Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are one of the wealthiest countries in the EU. We have a surplus of €8.6 billion this year. The question that many parents are asking is why the Minister of State's Government cannot guarantee a place for every child on the school-based summer programme. That is the question many parents are asking me in Mayo. Why does it have to be such a battle all of the time just to access education?

The Ministers of State talk about percentages and congratulate themselves on how well they have performed but what they do not take into account is the terrible cumulative neglect of the right of children to access special education through the years. Why did the Government cut the capitation payment from €45 to just €30 and then deny that was done when we know it is a fact? The Minister of State knows that this cut impacts on the quality and types of activities that can be offered to those children who manage to access a summer provision placement in a mainstream school. I ask that the Government immediately reverse this cut to capitation payments.

The Minister of State has said that every school has an opportunity to take part but the schools I speak to are under severe financial strain. Inflation has bitten them really hard and schools are really struggling to pay their bills. The Government needs to restore complex needs as a criterion for the allocation of resources. I can see why teachers are concerned with the planned standardised test scores. How on earth can standardised tests be used on autistic children or children with ADHD? What are they going to tell you? There may be a child with exceptional talent in maths or extraordinary artistic talents but who, at the same time, has additional needs in respect of daily functions or a low tolerance of particular noises or foods in the case of children with sensory issues. To standardise tests for children with complex needs is a contradiction in itself. Does the Minister of State know how difficult it is to even access therapists and psychologists to get assessments done in the first place?

The underfunding of special education is scandalous. Every child has the right to an education that enables him or her to feel valued and cherished so that he or she can fulfil his or her true potential. We either cherish all of our children equally or we do not. We have to be honest about this.

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