Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The letter I received states that the number of applications received in 2012 was 2,495, in 2013 it was 2,572 and in 2014 it was 2,609 while the number of reader approvals was 1826, 1,678 and 1,695, respectively. There has been a very slight increase in the number of applications, of approximately 100 over the three years, but the number of approvals has dropped and the number of refusals has increased. To put it simply, two years ago 25% of applications were being refused but last year that rose to 35%. There has been a significant increase in the number of refusals.

The Minister of State has really washed his hands with his reply. The Department in charge of education is saying that when a young person goes to sit the leaving certificate exam decisions on support for that student have nothing to do with the Minister or the Department but are the responsibility of an independent body. The Minister for Education and Skills is responsible for education and she should take an interest in this matter. It is not acceptable for the Minister to wash her hands of this situation.

I raise this issue on behalf of the parents of a young girl in Portlaoise who came to my constituency office because after going through the original assessment process and the entire appeals process, they were notified on 23 April 2015 that the appeals committee had decided that their daughter would not be granted a reader. That was only a few weeks before the beginning of the leaving certificate. The girl has been in school since she was four or five and is now 18 years old and about to sit her leaving certificate. She has had support all along but it is only at the point of her sitting her final exams that support is being withdrawn. That is barbaric, amoral and cruel and it is not acceptable that the Minister for Education and Skills would wash her hands of such a situation.

The final paragraph of the letter I received from the SEC on the specific case in question asserts that the SEC is satisfied "that all due consideration has been given in this case". In other words, that is the end of the road for the application. What is shocking is that the Minister of State has just said that candidates who are dissatisfied with the process can appeal further to the Ombudsman or the Ombudsman for Children. The girl only got word on her application a month before the leaving certificate is due to begin. Where is the Minister of State going with his reply? Does he think the Ombudsman or the Ombudsman for Children can deal with that case in less than a month and overturn that decision? That is a nonsense reply. It is a further nonsense that the SEC never informed any of those people who were refused support that they had the right to take their case to the Ombudsman or the Ombudsman for Children. It never informed me of same in its detailed, three page letter on the case I raised. Rather, the commission said that all procedures had been exhausted and it was satisfied with the decision. At the very least, the Department should tell the SEC to notify applicants of their right to appeal decisions to the Ombudsman or the Ombudsman for Children. The Minister of State and I both know that such an appeal is utterly impractical in the context of the four-week time scale in this particular case. The damage has already been done for those students who are sitting their leaving certificate this year but I ask the Minister of State to ensure that next year all of those who are entitled to this facility are granted it.

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