Dáil debates

Thursday, 24 January 2019

Report of Joint Committee on Education and Skills: Motion

 

4:20 pm

Photo of Kathleen FunchionKathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

5 o’clock

I will speak on a number of the recommendations. I thought it was apt that two of the Topical Issue debates today were on delays in speech and language services for children and a special school. In general when we speak about special education, children with additional needs constantly seem to be treated as second-class citizens. As much as some people might disagree with this analysis it is the case because they must battle for absolutely everything, whether it is speech and language services, occupational therapy, a place in a preschool, a place on a bus or a place in a school, and we seem to accept standards for children with additional needs that we would not accept for other children, such as long delays and travelling distances to and from school. We are supposed to tell parents and children they should be grateful they finally got a school place after battling and, in many cases, having been stressed for the previous two years. It is just not good enough. We speak about it an awful lot in the Chamber. I want to apologise to anyone who has heard me speak on the topic previously because I will pretty much say the same thing I have always said but I hope that at some point it will be taken on board and listened to. It is an area in which I have a very strong interest. I feel it is completely unacceptable that we treat children with additional needs in this way.

The main areas I want to focus on are recommendations Nos. 4, 5 and 8. Recommendation No. 4 is on the shortage of specialised school places for post-primary schoolchildren with autism and other special educational needs. The committee asks for this to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Coincidentally, last week my office received a call from a lady in my constituency who highlighted this very matter. There are two autism spectrum disorder classes available in County Kilkenny at post-primary level, one is in Kilkenny city and the other in rural Kilkenny. The school in rural Kilkenny is the one in Ballyhale visited by the Minister yesterday. That is it for any child who has come along really well through an autism spectrum disorder class at primary level. When it comes to secondary school they are extremely limited with only those two schools. There are issues of geography. It is completely unacceptable. It is a very serious matter. It is a live issue in my constituency and I am sure it is the same for many Deputies.

Recommendation No. 5 is on training for staff, including teachers and bus escorts, to be made compulsory and that consideration be given to the provision of a separate fund for this training to be made available by the Department of Education and Skills so as not to impact further on the funding of schools. I fully support this recommendation. It is similar to a matter I raised in a parliamentary question to the Minister earlier in the week on having a specific training course for teachers to teach in either special educational schools or autism spectrum disorder or special classes. This will always be met with issues regarding inclusiveness, and everybody wants inclusiveness, but in some situations this could be very good because not only would we give the very much needed and required training but it would provide an opportunity for people with a specific interest in the area and in working with children with additional needs. We should look at this.

During Question Time, the Minister stated he did not mind looking at the area and I hope the recommendation in the report means that he will do so. We have seen a very significant increase in autism spectrum disorder classes and we must meet this with the required training and give teachers an opportunity. Many special needs assistants, who have worked in the field for years, would love to progress and teach in a special education school or class. Unfortunately, at present, they are met with many barriers. We need to examine these practical issues. I do not like to be negative and criticise without stating what we should do and this is an area we can look at. A large number of special needs assistants would like to progress and training should be made available. The training should also be made available to people in general with a specific interest in special education.

With regard to recommendation No. 6, a witness who attended one of the hearings made the point she was initially employed as a nurse for 26.5 hours for three children and this was reduced to 24 hours despite the fact she was then caring for 24 children. She went from caring for three children to 24 children but the number of hours was reduced. She was unable to take a lunch break and was working a further nine hours for which she was not paid. This is completely unacceptable. We cannot have these situations. This will not be sustainable. There is no way that even with the best will in the world anybody can stay in a job working under these terms and conditions. We would not accept it in other sectors so we should not accept it when it comes to special education and children with additional needs.

Recommendation No. 8 is on DEIS. I agree with Deputy O'Loughlin that it can be a great system, particularly in recent years when we have seen the high impact of cuts, many children going to school hungry and not being able to afford lunch, and the impact of poverty on children but we need to figure out a way to have the resource follow the child. Many children who are not in DEIS schools are struggling and impacted. In a small number of non-DEIS schools children may have access to the school completion programme. It is primarily in DEIS schools but it is in a few other schools also. The vast majority of children do not have access to these services. They do not need the services of Tusla but if we could figure out a way for the resources to follow the child or expand DEIS to include other schools it would be extremely valuable.

I hope we look at the recommendations. The Minister has a genuine interest in the area and he wants to see progress. He comes from a rural constituency so he knows what it is like for children who are faced with long journeys and long waiting lists. I hope we will see action on some of the recommendations. We cannot just keep talking about it and saying how bad it is. We do point out small bits of progress here and there but it is not enough and they do not meet demands. It is not acceptable that there are only two autism spectrum disorder classes at post-primary level in County Kilkenny. It is completely unfair and puts children with additional needs at a disadvantage. I hope the recommendations are taken on board and that we see action in the near future and not in five or ten years' time when we have discovered a whole new set of problems.

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