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

I will again raise the issue of special education centres, as so many other Deputies have done. As the Tánaiste knows, I was a teacher for 15 years, 12 of which were spent teaching in a Delivering Equality of Opportunity in School, DEIS, school that had an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, hub. I saw first-hand the benefits of the inclusive model of education we have and of children being able to interact with mainstream and go to the ASD class, when appropriate. I am concerned about last night's announcement by the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Madigan. It flies in the face of so many of the buzzwords we use in this area, such as inclusive education, child-centred education, integration and so on. I have genuine concerns about the proposal's constitutionality and I believe it is a human rights issue. I urge the Government to seriously reconsider what it seems to be considering. I acknowledge the Tánaiste's earlier response regarding a meeting taking place today. We have to bear in mind what will come out of that meeting, but I have serious concerns.

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