Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is shocking that we are again more than one year on discussing this issue and that when it was raised first by the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education, NABMSE, and other organisations, it was not dealt with as a matter of urgency. There is another issue for the schools attached to organisations under section 38 of the Health Act. There was supposed to be a general agreement in respect of them, namely, the State's general indemnity scheme. I do not know if that issue has been sorted out for that cohort of schools. What is the position in that regard? We have got to take this issue much more seriously. The solicitor Gareth Noble stated in the media this week that the Department of Education and Skills had stepped off the playing pitch in the area of special educational needs. In my experience there is considerable truth in what he said when we look at this issue and a range of others which include children being denied their constitutional right to an education, children being denied the supports they need, constant announcements that have little or no basis in reality and an utter failure to use the special powers Fianna Fáil inserted into the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill to force schools to open special classes. They have not been touched and children have been left at home with home tuition grants, if they can receive them. The Minister has to get to grips with the issues in the area of special education.

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