Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If the Taoiseach is looking for suggestions on which citizens' assembly to prioritise, I will obviously plump for the one on education. The sector faces a number of issues, as the Taoiseach knows. Leaving certificate reform springs to mind and the joint committee on education is in the middle of discussions on that. The reform of July or summer provision also needs to be seriously addressed given that only 20% of eligible students had access to the programme in the past year. I welcome progress made on the school meals programme. Not every child has access to two or three meals per day and a school setting provides an opportunity in that regard.

I have to mention school transport. We speak about this issue in the House every summer and it is one that we dread as September approaches. It is another aspect of education we need to address. Autism spectrum disorder, ASD, designation for schools is a nettle that we need to firmly grasp by removing from principals and boards of management the discretion to determine whether a school has an ASD class. The Department needs to step in and allocate ASD provision in schools on the basis of demand. It should not be at a board's discretion.

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