Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is 100% correct. I recall from my time in the Department of Health, there would be a discussion on school leavers every year. I found it slightly insulting, because the discussion was on what we would do about a day care or a respite place. These are very important provisions, on which we need to do more, but they are not the totality. At the time children were talking to their parents about what they would do next, we seemed to think our only responsibility, as a State, was to provide the health service piece and we did not always get that right either. We need to know talk directly to the students, at an early stage in second level, as to what they want to do when they leave and put the supports in place. I had good meeting with Down Syndrome Ireland, but I will always remember one of the mothers telling me I had no idea how hard it was, in that not only not did she not watch her child progress when he or she left school, she was actually watching the child regress. That is a disgrace and a shame on all of us as a collective. I am determined, if my Department does nothing else, to apply a real focus to this. We have many good initiatives going on, including a fund for students with disabilities and good supports and examples, such as Trinity, but they are still examples. It needs to be embedded. The Deputy is correct in that it is not just higher education; it could be further education, training or higher education. It is about the same diversity of choice. With €5 million, let us get on with a number of projects, led by learners and grounded in the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

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