Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The problem with the Minister's answer is that the new allocation model will obviously affect all children with disabilities, which is entirely appropriate. However, the current system discriminates against the condition of Down's syndrome or does not bestow on it an adequate rating. Comparisons have been made with autism. For the very small number of children who are in the category to which I refer, who are due to start school in September and whose parents must complete their applications by the end of March will be left behind and assessed under the old model - which discriminates against Down's syndrome - rather than being treated in the same way as, for example, children with autism.

Given the life-changing potential provided by those resource teaching hours for these children and the very small cost to the State, I ask the Minister to consider introducing an emergency measure to deal with them while awaiting the overall review model to be initiated.

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