Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I doubt the Minister of State will disagree that the past six months have been extremely detrimental for children with special needs and their level of access to the services they need. The effects on children and their families are probably unquantifiable. Those effects are ongoing. The lack of routine and structure has been detrimental. The cessation of services and difficulty in accessing ongoing services has caused regression in learning and peer-to-peer relationships.

In many cases, certain challenging behaviours have arisen at home where it is not visible to the outside world and that has caused difficulties in the family environment. Familiarity is very important in the context of special education.

My question for the Minister of State relates to parents who are listening to her and other members of the Government this evening. Prior to Covid, the system of special education and assessment of needs was quite dysfunctional. I will not go over those issues again. Parents will want to know what resources and support the Department will give to parents and schools that provide these services which were slightly dysfunctional even before Covid. What support will the Government provide to them in the coming six months to a year?

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