Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important issue. I also welcome that I have finally received confirmation from the National Council for Special Education that a special education needs organiser has been put in place in County Laois. However, we are still waiting for a SENO to be put in place in County Offaly. This is a great source of frustration to the parents I meet daily and also to the schools that have contacted me about this matter. It is unacceptable to be missing such a critical person for helping parents. I understand the SENO is to be put in place by the end of July. I ask both Ministers to ensure that happens.

Parents are exhausted from trying to fight for their children with special needs. I meet these parents continually. It is very unfair. They face barrier after barrier. They need help. A SENO should be in place in County Offaly. There is no excuse for the delays that have been experienced already. It has been a long drawn-out process and this needs to happen by the end of July, as promised. While this is vitally important in terms of co-ordinating and protecting the rights of special needs children, it must also be matched with increased capacity in schools and a ramping up of the number of special needs assistants. Without that we will have a situation akin to being referred by a GP for a service that simply cannot be provided. There are serious gaps in terms of meeting the needs of children with special needs. I acknowledge the great support groups such as Laois Offaly Families For Autism, LOFFA, which supports children with autism in Laois and Offaly and their parents. If it were not for such groups, many parents would be totally at a loss and I commend them on their work.

I highlight the point in the motion regarding the 13-step process of compelling schools to open special units under section 37A of the Education Act 1998. I agree that far from being an emergency response, the process is incredibly cumbersome and time-consuming. It is also a useful political trick of being seen to do something but in reality doing nothing to improve the situation in a simple and practical way.

I raised the issue of the special education needs organiser and special education in February with the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, through a parliamentary question. I found it appalling to be told in an extraordinary reply at the time that it was nothing to do with the Minister of State and that I should contact the NCSE. This is what parents face every day of the week. When we as Deputies try to help them we should receive more support and assistance. I want to call that out. It is typical of the approach of this Government to seek the praise, while accepting none of the responsibility or assisting in times of need. We have to remember that children with special educational needs have already been disproportionately impacted by Covid-19 restrictions and the loss of school time.

The Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, on which I sit, was told by the National Principals Forum, NPF, that more than half - 53.6% - of principals surveyed had observed an increase in special educational needs children returning to school. The NPF further noted that this increase could be caused by the loss of engagement, skills, learning and human connection of students with special educational needs. All of the challenges are unacceptable. I ask the Minister to take action on these issues.

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