Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Children with special educational needs should be able to access full education and the required supports. Much has been said about the current system, the need for reform and the Minister's proposed new model. I wish to focus on three key areas.

The first is children who do not have access to psychologists. There is an acknowledged absence of the service in 400 schools. The Minister is proposing to recruit 21 new psychologists. The target is 238, an increase from 162. This target is inadequate and based on inaccurate information. Take the example of the school in Dromleigh, which is like many other schools in rural mid-Cork. There are seven psychologists within an hour's drive, but all of them are overwhelmed with work. Only one responded to the school when requested and gave an appointment for nine months hence. The child concerned is losing out on a full school year, with the child's education and development suffering. Parents are pushed towards private diagnosis, which costs €600 to €1,200 if they can put the money together. That is not accessible for many families; therefore, again, the child loses out. Furthermore, it is a one-off report, with no follow-up through the child's years of education.

The second key area is the total system failure for children with autism spectrum disorder, ASD. It takes 18 months to two years to get a diagnosis. Those with a diagnosis pre-2016 have limited services but in Cork those with a post-2016 diagnosis have none. Parents are forced to actively drive a system that is not working for them. One parent outlined how she has applied to schools where eight to ten places might become available, but there are over 60 children on a waiting list. One sees the distress of parents who are driving the system, waiting for a response and then experiencing the disappointment and terror when they realise there is no place for their child in September. A lack of demographic planning created this situation. It is bad enough at primary school level but it gets worse at secondary level, where there are even fewer places. If ASD students are lucky enough to get a place, they are also likely to be separated from their peers.

The third point is that a lack of planning caused the problems with the current system. Parents and schools, especially smaller rural schools, are concerned about the new model. They are worried about losing services for their children and returning to the situation of 15 years ago or so when they had a shared remedial teacher who travelled from school to school through the week. Under this new model can they depend on getting the hours that the current system delivers for them?

There is a shortage of psychologists and a failure in ASD services. Any new model must address these issues.

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