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

I posed this question in the context of a difficult case in my area involving the parents of a young man with severe problems and some behavioural issues who has been to several schools but got a place in a special school. However, because the school did not seem to be able to manage his behaviour, in the parents’ opinion, he was routinely suspended, although the school was supposed to be his place of refuge. The parents have got private applied behaviour analysis, ABA, tutoring for him and have themselves done a lot of work with him and they believe the problem is the way the school is handling him rather than any inherent difficulties in the young man. If a different approach had been adopted, perhaps the results could have been better.

They told me he is an intelligent man in many ways. His learning has been absolutely impacted on by the fact that on many occasions he has been suspended. The idea that it is a school for children with special needs and he has been expelled because of the difficulties arising from those needs does not make any sense. Is that a routine policy? I note what the Minister said about how they may appeal but does this not sound particularly odd in those circumstances?

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