Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy McGrath on bringing this Bill forward. I know there is much discussion about the Friday morning sittings of the Dáil but Deputy McGrath would make the point because this issue is very close to his heart that this will make the entire five years of this Dáil term worthwhile for him. I know he is a tireless crusader on disability rights and has done work in the area of Down's syndrome in particular.

The Bill is fundamentally about equality. People should be equal before the law and have equal opportunities regardless of the circumstances into which they are born or what they are born with. For some people, achieving equality is more difficult than others. The State has a duty to create a balance to give the optimum prospect of equality, which is what is being sought here.

Down Syndrome Ireland, DSI, sent Members a briefing document, which is worth noting. This issue appears to be complex. Most parents of disabled children who end up in mainstream schools expect supports for them as an automatic right. According to DSI:

Children with Down syndrome require the diagnosis of a second disability from the "Low Incidence Disability List" before receiving Resource Teaching Hours, most children with Down syndrome have a second disability but there are approx. 200 children with Down syndrome who do not have this vital education support...

Low Incidence Disabilities are disabilities that occur in less than 1% of the population, Down syndrome occurs in 0.2% of the population. Down syndrome is in fact a "Low Incidence Disability" and should be included on the Department of Education's list of "Low Incidence Disabilities"....

The cost of including Down syndrome on the "Low Incidence Disability" lists is less than €1 million.

An investment of €1 million would be quickly recouped over the lifetime of sufferers if they were enabled to be the best they could be. That means giving special attention where it is required.

Deputy Doherty referred to diagnosis. I have frequently encountered parents who want to hope for the best in the context of a diagnosis and psychological assessment but they are given the worst outcome, and that is the most awful position in which to put them. This additional burden cannot be placed on them because there are no supports or because the Government is trying to limit them. Getting a place in school is not the same as getting equal access to education. Mainstream education is not only about the social benefits; it must be about educational benefits.

The Lisbon treaty contains the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which provides for the right to education for all. Every time we have debates such as this, it brings into sharp focus the fact that the Government is spending the equivalent of the entire education budget on servicing the national debt. The result is that we are talking about cutting resources for services that should be a guaranteed right.

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