Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Over the lifetime of the Government, the experience of the parents and teachers of children with special educational needs has become a serious national issue. Continually muddled Government policies on how to provide for such children, combined with the shortage of resources and non-availability of facilities, consign many to what can only be described as bureaucratic purgatory. These problems are exacerbated by parents being forced to lurch from crisis to crisis as they try to ensure their children receive the basic education appropriate to their needs while endeavouring to locate safe environments. All too often, the parents expend a large proportion of their earnings, not to mention months of precious time, only to find that the services are insufficient or they must wait weeks, months or even years before they can get therapy and support for their children.

With my Oireachtas colleagues, I attended a meeting last Monday in Scoil Aonghusa in Cashel. It is a co-educational school that facilitates 85 individuals with multiple physical, emotional and other learning difficulties. These pupils need immediate specialist services but receive little support or funding from the HSE. I am aware that this is a national issue, but another school in Cashel, Scoil Chormaic, which caters for 223 children and young adults, also faces the constant occurrence of minimal services.

The introduction of the progressive disability services for children and young people, which were established by the HSE to change the way in which services were provided, is a haphazard, unpredictable and Billy-to-Jack delivery of service and therapy. This project will not alleviate any problem. Services need to be delivered consistently, cohesively and in collaboration with parents and teachers. We need to start listening to the parents and teachers who care for these children every day. They are acutely aware of what needs to be undertaken and how the efficient delivery of such services can be fully achieved. Children with special needs should have access to all the specialist therapies and supports they require, not out of luxury, but out of necessity. "Lack of funding for services" is the Government's daily recited turn of phrase, but should we not find that funding? Should funding for children with special needs not be our first priority?

It is evident that the continued chaos in care and services is not the fault of psychologists and therapists. The problem is that their caseloads are too large to meet the needs of so many children. In the absence of services, our teachers are to be applauded for the incredible work they undertake to meet these children's needs and to provide after-school support to parents. We have heard the announcements of additional personnel, but those announcements hide the fighting, pleading and justification that schools and parents must make to get such posts.

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