Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Government is proactive on this. The NCSE is very focused on the current legislative framework and on this on an operational level. Under the Acts that I have mentioned, very often the onus is put on the parents to seek to places. In my view, the system should be seeking the places for the child. That is the fundamental change that must occur. That requires an automatic response from the State whereby, when children with complex needs require provision, the State goes and finds the place for them. This is opposed to what is done at the moment, which is to say to the parents that they must apply to four or five schools in an area. This is not a question of resources. Some 25% of the Department's budget, correctly, is spent on special education. The sum is over €2 billion. This is an issue of matching the resources to the needs in given geographic locations and areas.

This is also a matter of everybody playing their role. The NCSE and the Department have had to engage with certain schools in the past month. These were schools that had special classes built. They have had to say, “You must take in children”. It is not on any more.

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