Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I thank Sinn Féin for using its time on this issue again. It is ironic. In the past couple of months every time the Opposition demands a debate on something, the Taoiseach, in particular, likes to say the Opposition has all this Private Members' time to use and if Opposition Members want a debate on Yemen or the national maternity hospital, they should use that time. If the Government and the State agencies at the HSE did not break their own law and force Sinn Féin and the Opposition to use Private Members' time to raise the same issues repeatedly to pursue the basics for children with special needs to get what they deserve and need instead of being messed around, and if the brains of the HSE were put to resolving problems people have and providing assistance people need rather than fiddling around with the figures to try to cover up what was going on, then the Opposition might have more free time available for some of the other issues we want to debate. This should not be necessary.

For the second time in a month, the Government will pass an Opposition Private Members' motion on children with special needs and the assessment of needs. Okay, it is better that it pass it than that it does not. That is grand. However, what the families and parents want to see is not just the Dáil passing motions. They want us to pass motions to put pressure on the Government to do something about the issue. They want concrete action. There are concrete demands in the motion they want to see happen.

There is no excuse for Ireland not to sign the optional protocol. The only reason not to sign it is to avoid providing people with a route to ensure their rights under the UNCRPD can be vindicated. We need to see that immediately so that if the Government does not do what it is meant to do, people have a route to vindicate their rights. We need a full and transparent publication of all the waiting lists so we can see the truth of what is happening. That truth is being consciously covered up and distorted by the HSE, contrary to the law as it currently exists. Then - it is not rocket science - we need investment to ensure kids get the support they need. The latest figures I saw show that 34,000 children are waiting for community health supports, including speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and all the therapies people need to access.

Every time I meet families on this issue, it strikes me they have enough going on in their lives and enough pressure in trying to support and do everything they can for their children. Then the Government and State leaves them with no alternative but to spend a huge amount of time fighting for things that should be basic rights. I pay tribute to all those involved in activism around this issue despite the fact they have no time for it and to those who take the State to court, all the way up to the High Court, to vindicate the rights of their children. They should not have to do it.

I will raise one case illustrating the criminal failure by the State of children with special needs. I was talking to a woman yesterday. She was happy for me to use her name, Sharon Saunders. Her child has Down's syndrome. I have three refusal letters for 2020, 2021 and 2022 wherein everybody accepts he needs a space in a special school but, year on year, he has rejection letters from the school because there is not enough space. He is on a waiting list and, year on year, it never happens. That is no criticism of the school. It is a criticism of the insufficient investment in our education and healthcare to ensure children get the support they need. We pay all this lip service to early intervention, but the practice is extremely late intervention. The consequence of the lack of investment is that this 12-year-old is sitting in a mainstream fifth class primary school at the back of the class getting assistance from a special needs assistant, SNA. The school is doing everything it can to support him but it is not where he needs to be. He needs to be in a special school. That is the best thing for him but we have failed to invest in resources to ensure the spaces are available. That is a political choice. A different political choice can and should be made.

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