Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am here at the front. That is why the Ceann Comhairle cannot see me.

Much has been said about how children are managing in getting back to school and the way that it is being prioritised. We can all agree that every child wants to go back to school. In some ways, some are probably a little more reluctant than others. Their parents want them back at school and every effort is being made to get them back to school.

We need to acknowledge that not every child can go back in the same way and some children will need a little more support. I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, will be aware of this because my colleague, Deputy Funchion, has already outlined the figures. Parents of children with special needs have long come to expect that they will be let down by the Government. The figures from the parents surveyed by AsIAm show that. Parents themselves have set the bar very low because they have been disappointed on so many occasions in the past. They feel like their children are not a priority.

I welcome the fact Deputy Madigan has been appointed to this role. It is an extremely important one and I wish her the best in it. I look forward to working constructively with the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and the officials in her Department because there is recognition that the pandemic has had a different impact on some children and some children have been more severely impacted than others. That is a fact. It is the Minister of State's job to redress that balance and to ensure balance is restored and that those children who need a bit of extra help can get it.

Let us look at the task ahead for the Minister of State in my constituency of Dublin Fingal. More than 1,000 children are awaiting physiotherapy, more than 1,600 are awaiting speech and language therapy and more than 1,300 are awaiting occupational therapy. In addition, there is a severe and chronic shortage of autism spectrum disorder, ASD, places within the constituency, which is the youngest constituency in the State and the one with the fastest growing population. There is an acute need in my constituency for a focus on children but that, unfortunately, is not happening. Parents are struggling.

As I stated previously, while we may be all in the same storm, we are very definitely not in the same boat. That can be said of parents of children with special needs. I want to put on record my appreciation for the principals, the school workers, the teachers, the volunteers, the special needs assistants, SNAs, and every person who has put a significant effort in. I have seen it in my own family in the effort my sister has put in to getting her school ready.

The senior Minister, Deputy Foley, stated that PPE will be provided, that it has been purchased and that it will be available, and yet we heard from the Fórsa trade union only this week that some schools are refusing to supply that to SNAs and to bus escorts. That needs to be addressed as a matter of priority because bus escorts and special needs assistants are very much in a front-line hands-on role and they need to have every piece of protective equipment. It is not expensive. A medical-grade mask costs 50 cent, and yet some of them do not have that. That is not acceptable. The minimum a worker needs is the tools to do his or her job safely, and it is the Minister of State's job to ensure that is provided.

I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, the very best. She is taking on a considerable responsibility on behalf of those parents. They want the Minister of State to succeed as do we. We want to be able to work with the Minister of State but the record to date has not been good. The waiting lists are extremely long. There is a considerable amount that needs to be done to provide the support that every child needs in order that every child can get back to school, that every child can thrive and that every child can have a chance to do well in school.

I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, well in her appointment. We look forward to working with her but I ask her to raise the bar and to try to impress parents.

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