Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her response, but she has not given any comfort to the children, parents or school staff who are listening to this. I know a few of them will be tuning in. The Minister of State referenced that three Departments are responsible for the services I am talking about, but the problem is they do not seem to be co-ordinating and Le Chéile National School has not got the resources it not just needs, but is entitled to.

This week the school were visited by members of the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, and the National Educational Psychological Service which can provide a specific additional need, but the school needs a multidisciplinary team. The school is in a challenging area with lots of complex issues, such as the scourge of addiction, be that to alcohol, drugs or gambling. It has already invested its own resources into private assessments for some of the kids, which it should not have to do. I wish to acknowledge and highlight the work the school has undertaken to date. It has identified four key areas that it needs to address over the next three years but it cannot deal with them alone. To be clear, this is not the absence of one support or another, but the absence of all additional support. Why does the Minister of State think the school has advised it has no speech and language support, no occupational therapy support, no physiotherapy support, no music or art therapy, no literacy or numeracy support, no access to counselling services and no assessment of need support? I feel sorry for the kids and I feel sorry for their teachers. How can a teacher be expected to teach kids with additional needs when those needs are not being catered for? How can that educator face that challenge every day without feeling despondent? Some are burnt out and feel abandoned. The school has a plan but it needs the Minister of State's support and that of the other Departments. It wants to see the needs of all their vulnerable and at-risk children fully assessed. It wants a multidisciplinary team working with those children. It wants a family support team created to support the families of these children. The school wants to give these children a chance in life. I want the Department of Education to step up and act. The least that can be done is to put a pilot scheme into the school to deal with the issues I have raised. The Minister of State needs to help these schools and help these kids. We need a response that will give some comfort to the teachers there.

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