Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá mé ag iarraidh an cheist a ardú arís eile a d'ardaigh mé coicís ó shin maidir leis an rang speisialta i Scoil Chaitríona sa Roinn Mhór. I want to raise the issue again of the special language class in Scoil Chaitríona in Renmore, which I raised with the Minister of State exactly two weeks ago. Unfortunately it appears still not to have been rectified. This is causing serious concern among parents. As the Minister of State knows, seven children currently avail of this class. These children get this special language class for two years. It is the only special language class in Galway city and north Galway and it is of great importance for these families and for the children. The reality is that some kids have gone through one year of this and now it is going to be stopped. They are really concerned for what this will mean for them going forward. They have been told they will be added to the community caseload. My understanding from parents is that this will realistically mean 40 minutes a week for about 25 weeks of the year. That is simply not enough. As the Minister of State knows, at this moment the children are getting all their education through speech and language therapy and that is crucially important. The parent who contacted me has told me how her daughter has progressed so much as a result of this and how fantastic it has been. Having 40 minutes a week for 25 weeks and having all your education through speech and language therapy are simply utterly different. I raised this with the Minister of State two weeks ago because I hoped we could come to some sort of conclusion on it before the schools break for the summer. It is crucial that something is done between now and then. We need to give some certainty to the children and parents. We crucially need to think of the children who are at the heart of this situation. They love these classes and excel in them. I ask the Minister of State to reach out through her Department to the school and to the HSE, and to speak to her Cabinet colleagues about making sure this does not happen, that these children get the supports they so desperately need. Of course, there is also the question as to why there are only seven places in this class. Why are more places not available across Galway for children who require this? There are usually 30 children applying for these seven places. That is simply not good enough. I appeal to the Minister of State to work on this and to have it rectified as soon as possible.

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