Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

The Act is ten years old and the reality for families and children with special needs is that they are going backwards. The National Council for Special Education was supposed to provide for resources and meet the needs of children with special educational needs but, in reality, it has been used to implement the cap on SNA posts in 2010 rather than the original aims of the Act. It has had a devastating impact on the children involved. For the current school year, 2014-15, some 40% of the applications for SNAs made by schools were rejected and 20% of applications for resource teachers were refused. These decisions on economic grounds are eroding the education of children with special needs. The Act was supposed to ensure these children's needs were met in an inclusive environment. Does the Minister accept that many children capable of mainstream education are finding themselves put into special schools or special units because the resources are not being made available to meet their needs? They are being left behind and the next generation of schoolchildren are being lined up in the same way unless the Act is fully implemented.

See this speech in context