Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I too wish to support this motion and the call for more psychologists to assess the needs of children in order that their needs are properly addressed. I call for more transparency when funding is being awarded under the DEIS programme. I am aware of a situation in a very large school in Killarney, St. Oliver's, in which there are huge numbers of children who come from many different countries and where funding is required to give these children a fair and proper education. Additional teachers with translation abilities are needed to give these children a proper start and a proper education.

There is an urgent need for many more special needs teachers in the small national schools around the country. As larger schools have special needs teachers, the child with special needs from a family of course tends to go to that school and the rest of the family follows. That means they pass a small school nearer to them, which eventually closes because children tend to go to the school their special needs siblings attend.

There is another issue in rural Ireland that needs to be addressed. When rural schools were closed, a promise was given that the children would always be transported for free to the nearest central school in the parish. That is not happening. Since 2012, the last Government and this Government have furthered a policy by which the children will only get transport to the nearest school, which may be in a different parish. That is not fair because families want to keep their parish identities and want their children to go to the local schools. Where the parents went, they want to children to follow. This must be addressed. There are many such situations in Cordal, Scartaglin, Anascaul, Tralee and Dingle. All of those places are affected. In Knocknagashel, there are more families affected. The Government did not honour the promise given that the children would be taken to the school in their own parish.

There is no need in Kerry for the education Bill the Minister is bringing through. There is no requirement for a child to be baptised to be allowed into any of the schools that I know in Kerry. It is not a requirement that they have to produce a baptismal certificate. All denominations and all children from whatever country they come from are allowed in to each of our national schools. Our schools and parent-teacher committees need to be applauded for that because they do not segregate anyone. They give all children a chance to be admitted to their schools. I know one very small national school at the present time in which there are children from 13 different nationalities and there was never a requirement that they had to produce a baptismal certificate.

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