Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste said he understands and rightly made the point this has been ongoing for a long time. Two years ago, when I raised this with the then Tánaiste on the floor of the Dáil, 3,850 children had been failed by the State. Today, the figure is more than 5,000. It is only going in one direction; it is getting worse. Two years ago, we heard excuses from the Government on reforms being introduced. The reality is the State is fighting these parents in the courts. There are numerous cases where parents have been forced to go to the courts to vindicate the rights of their children with special needs because they are being failed in regard to their legal entitlement to have an assessment of need carried out within six months. The State is not saying it is sorry and that it will support and help the parents and that it is trying to do better, the State is fighting these cases. These families are at their wits' end. Being a parent of a child with additional or special needs is a challenge in itself without having to battle every single day for services and supports. This is only the first hurdle. After the assessment of need, there are numerous other battles to get speech and language therapy, SNAs and all of the other supports, including school placement. Will the Tánaiste give a guarantee the Government will not fight these parents in the courts anymore and put in place a robust package of measures to make sure no child is denied his or her legal right?

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