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

10 o’clock

The Minister focused his answer on one year, the ECCE programme, but the question was on the whole of the early years programme. Early education should start before the free preschool year, particularly for children with special educational needs. While the programme is welcome, the Minister mentioned a leniency in its application for children with special educational needs. The number of people on a split year or availing of the upper age threshold is only in the region of 500 but various reports indicate there is in excess of 6,000 children with special educational needs. Can the Minister's Department confirm the number of children under the age of five who have been diagnosed with special educational needs and the number of children currently awaiting assessment?

Earlier this week, I met a parents group which was set up to fight for greater supports for their children. One mother told me that for a parent of a young child with special educational needs, everything is a fight and that she feels beaten down. This is a direct consequence of the lack of inclusion policies the Minister's Government has presided over for the past four years.

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