Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We were told it was arranged for the Order of Business. That is why I was waiting. Obviously, there has been a miscommunication somewhere.

Deputy Lowry raised the difficult plight of Scoil Aonghusa in Tipperary which I visited with Deputy Jackie Cahill. I must comment on the wonderful telepathy between the Taoiseach and Deputy Lowry on the needs of Scoil Aonghusa, needs which I support and endorse. I hope the same telepathy will apply to other Deputies across the country for their specific projects in their constituencies.

It brings to mind the wider issue, despite what the Taoiseach has said, concerning the significant disconnect between the rhetoric and reality for many special needs children across the country in accessing to physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy, as well as mental health services. Will he outline when the sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act relating to the rights of children with special needs will be commenced? It is over a decade since the relevant sections, which will give rights to children with special needs, were enacted but never commenced. We have this significant debate about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, to a large extent, it is meaningless when we are not prepared to commence the relevant sections of legislation we passed in the Oireachtas over a decade ago.

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