Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is no question about it. We need to keep this issue live on the agenda and we need to continue to debate it in this House. We are putting a great deal of resources into special education. It is now one out of every five euro. We also need, however, to look at how we can provide a more holistic education to people who would not have been getting that in the past. That is why I have set up a social inclusion pilot which will cover west Dublin, Kildare and parts of Wicklow. We have chosen 75 schools. If complex special needs are involved, we will examine the need for a specialist nurse and incorporating the HSE into the pilot as well. That could involve speech and language therapy, occupational therapy or behavioural therapy and having that therapy delivered in a school setting. We have a duty to ensure that follow a totally inclusive approach with every single young person, no matter what disadvantage he or she might be experiencing, whether a physical or otherwise. That is why I have used the word "cumasú", which means "empowerment", at the heart of my education policy to ensure that every single young person is subject to that inclusive approach. We, however, have to continue this debate in this House and it is important we do that because this is a changing world.

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