Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the first cross-government report on the budget measures to reduce child poverty and promote child well-being. While progress on the six areas identified in the child poverty and well-being programme has been made, there are huge issues. I welcome DEIS and huge money has been invested in schools but almost half of children living in poverty have little access to these supports as they are in non-DEIS schools. The home school community liaison scheme needs to be extended to all these schools. Children living in poverty can be vulnerable to dropping out and parents can struggle to access a school place. We only have 120 educational welfare officers to work with thousands of pupils. We need more of them because we have more than 4,000 schools.

Here is an example. I know of a child who started school in September, needs a hoist for mobility and whose mother had to go to the school to lift the child in and out of the chair because the hoist that was there was unavailable. She is getting one but I have children waiting on speech and language therapy. There have been improvements and I welcome them but there are still huge concerns.

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