Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill. As has been said, a few weeks ago we tabled a motion which set out the major problems with this issue across the country. We all acknowledge the serious lack of investment in special needs education over the years. The provisions in the Bill dealing with special needs education go some way to dealing with that. The section 37A process gives a lever for a Minister to try to make things happen, which is welcome. Parents, particularly in a rural constituency like Sligo-Leitrim, trying to find a place for a child often have to travel long distances because the class in the local school is full. This means significant cost for the State because transport needs to be provided for that child. That happens regularly. Most of these children would like to go to the school where their siblings are but owing to lack of space they need to travel further. That is an issue.

That said, progress is being made. Last Friday, I was in Drumshanbo where the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, opened an excellent facility. It is very good to see progress like that happening. However, principals have a resistance to this because they fear they will not get the supports they need. They fear that there will be an enormous workload. While the facilities may be delivered, they fear they will not get the backup services regarding staff etc. In her contribution, the Minister said that the funding for new staff provided that for six students there would be one teacher and two SNAs. While that is all well and good, often those six children might need one SNA each. We need to acknowledge that and we need a more comprehensive system for families to apply to get that level of service put in place as quickly as possible.

The other services related to this have also been mentioned. We have a big issue with the community disability network teams. They are trying to play a role in this but in many cases, they do not have even half the capacity they should, which is a problem.

It will take time to sort out the issues. I believe we need to put a major emphasis on this, particularly here in Dublin where there is a serious problem. The absence of forward planning is the main problem we encounter. As was said earlier, despite knowing the number of children in primary school in a catchment area often the facilities in secondary school are simply not there.

That is one of the serious problems we have. The fact that planning is not in place for that is a problem. There is no adequate planning for primary school places. Children should not have to search around the country for a school place when they are within a year of needing one. That place should be available to them to ensure we can treat all children not just equally but adequately, particularly children with disabilities or different abilities. We need to ensure they are adequately catered for and looked after, not just in their first year or early years in school but throughout their school experience, because it should not be the case that when they have to go into secondary school, all of a sudden, they fall off a cliff and have to fight for services. I accept that the Minister of State is doing her best to make this happen given we are coming from a very low base.

We support the Bill. Amendments may be needed. I know the Minister mentioned in her opening speech that there may be issues with amendments because we have so little time for them, but if we co-operate, we can deliver something better for all our children.

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