Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I extend my thoughts and sympathies to the families of the 93 people whose deaths from Covid-19 were reported yesterday and to all those who have been bereaved in the course of this pandemic. We are living through what are difficult times for many families.

The Government has abandoned plans to reopen special education schools and facilities this week. The Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, has twice promised that they would reopen. She has twice failed to deliver. The promises have fallen apart due to Government incompetence. The Minister's approach in the media over the past 24 hours of finger pointing and seeking to scapegoat SNAs and teachers is fooling no one.

Everyone wants to see children and young people with additional needs back at school. That has been and remains a shared objective because they are the cohort of students that missed out most when schools closed in the spring. The regression that was experienced by many as a result of the loss of their supports and routines was alarming. It caused incredible distress to them and their parents. Now, these children and young people are losing out again and their parents are distressed once more.

The responsibility for this mess lies squarely with the Government. It told anyone who cared to listen that education during the pandemic was a priority, yet it has failed to put together anything resembling a plan B. No thought was given to how education would continue if schools had to close due to high rates of infection. Such a plan B could have been, and should have been, on the shelf, having been discussed with all stakeholders - unions, management bodies, students and parents. The Government has had since August to put in place these contingencies.

By the way, special education is up and running in the North and across Europe. People are left wondering how and why it is that the same cannot happen here. The truth is that, instead of being prepared, the Government scrambled at the last minute to put together a plan. It fell apart because there had been no consultation and the Government sought to bounce stakeholders. The Government has a tendency to dictate policy by press release. We saw the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, racing to gazump each other in the media. That approach has resulted in serious implications for children and young people and their families.

The Minister now claims that her plan collapsed because of bad faith. Let me tell the House what bad faith is. It was bad faith to give these children, as she did, the impression that they would be back in school when the work was not done to ensure that schools were safe and all the people involved in delivering the plan were on board. All of this happened because the Minister made a big promise and has not done the work to deliver it.

Children with special educational needs should be priority No. 1 in education. They should be the first back into the classroom, but that must happen on the basis of agreement and of ensuring that schools and staff are safe. The talks that I hope are ongoing today need to take some serious shape now. SNAs and teachers want to be back in school. I recall clearly how, in September, they moved heaven and earth to get their classes open again with little notice. The Taoiseach might advise the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, that comparing these professionals - teachers, SNAs and others - to mother and baby homes is not just crass and clueless, but a vain attempt to shift blame.

The truth is the outstanding concerns have to be addressed. The other truth is this cannot go on forever. We need to see a result. We cannot allow this to drift into the general reopening of schools.

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