Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise two items of legislation, the first being the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, EPSEN, Act 2004. This Act has not been fully enacted and its primary objective was to ensure that children with special educational needs shall be educated in an inclusive environment with children who do not have such needs as long as this is in the best interests of the child. I understand the Minister for Education and Skills has initiated a report into how best to allocate resource hours and special needs assistants because at present, such allocation is highly inconsistent and unfair across the country. Last night, I met a delegation from Down Syndrome Ireland, which is extremely worried about the implementation of this Act. The delegates were extremely worried about a report the Taoiseach's colleague in government was meant to bring forward this week. When will parents of children with special educational needs and when will parents of children with Down's syndrome know how the Government will ensure they will get the required resource hours and special needs assistants? They absolutely need to know this in advance of next September.

The second item of legislation is the health (miscellaneous provisions) Bill. The nurses in the Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar, which services counties Longford and Westmeath, have voted on industrial action because 60 nurses are needed to bring the hospital to an appropriate level of safety.

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