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

The simple truth is that there will never be enough resources for the kids in these special school settings with some of the needs I have described earlier. Let us be honest about that. Whether it is kids who need to be helped to feed; need PEG feeding, need help to go to the toilet, or whatever the case may be, the harsh reality is there will never be enough resources. The staff in those settings do a massive job and they are to be commended for it but at the end of the day the parents, who are the focus of the home school community liaison programme, are often forgotten about. As I said, they are at home with those children 24-7 and we lose sight of the fact that they are the most important people in those students' lives. Now that the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Foley, are here, I would ask that in time for next year's budget at least some analysis would be done on this issue. I understand that special schools get so many resources but it is comparing apples and oranges with mainstream schools and DEIS schools. There is merit in doing some kind of review and looking into the matter.

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