Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, for being here. A few weeks ago I hosted a disability forum and invited Sinn Féin's spokespeople on health and disabilities, Deputies Cullinane and Tully, to come and hear directly from parents, families and people with disabilities in County Monaghan. I invited a number of people I had worked with who had come to me requesting support in their battles with the HSE, CDNTs and the NCSE. I expected a good proportion of those I contacted to make an effort to attend, but I was not expecting the huge turnout on the night. Over 100 families were present. They came from every corner of the county and a few travelled from outside. They were from every walk of life and of every political persuasion. Some had organised babysitters and carers and others had taken time off work. It was clear this was a group of people who had stories that needed to be heard and they were looking for somebody - anybody - to listen. The stories we heard that evening were harrowing and in stark contrast to the narrative we often hear conveyed by the Government in this House. Parent after parent - mostly mothers, it must be said - told of their unrelenting battles to get the services their children need. The young mother who opened proceedings, Gráinne McElvaney, gave a very detailed and passionate address. Her words, almost exactly, were that parents of children with disabilities in County Monaghan are forced to fight every single day.

Two issues emerged as the dominant themes of that meeting. The first was the need for an overnight respite service for children with disabilities in County Monaghan. As the Minister of State will be aware, I have raised that matter with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, on numerous occasions here and will continue to do so. The second issue is the one I bring to the present Minister of State, namely, the need for a special school in County Monaghan. Just as with respite care, Monaghan is a forgotten county. We do not have a special school; instead, children are forced to and expected to travel to the special school in Cavan, which has the highest standards and reputation. We heard absolutely harrowing stories of children with profound needs being forced to travel on a bus for obscene lengths of time in order to get to school. In at least one instance, a child will have this morning spent longer on the bus getting to school than I spent travelling here from Carrickmacross. Another child is at home today, as they have been all this school term, because transport to the special school in Cavan has not been put in place at all despite numerous appeals to the NCSE to get it sorted. Many other children from County Monaghan are not having their education needs met at all because the school in Cavan is beyond capacity.

Nobody who has appraised the situation objectively - nobody, that is, except the Government and the NCSE - is in any doubt that a special school in County Monaghan will be immediately filled. I have submitted numerous parliamentary questions to the Minister since 2022 urging the development of a special school in County Monaghan and in each case I have received a very lengthy response but no actual answer.

Typically, the exact words used are as follows:

In relation to provision in Monaghan, I want to reassure the Deputy that both my Department and the NCSE will continue to monitor and review the need for further new special schools.

That does not reassure me. It certainly does not reassure the families in County Monaghan who are crying out for a school that can cater for their children's needs. I hope the Minister of State can tell me today that she acknowledges the need for a special school in County Monaghan and that she will instruct the NCSE to deliver it as a matter of urgency.

See this speech in context