Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat. I ask the Taoiseach to support the idea behind my education amendment Bill. This is the proposal that parents of kids with special needs would be able to apply to schools, primary and secondary, two years beforehand. This would allow the school, the parents and everybody to do everything that needs to be done and the Department and whoever else to play their parts.

The joint committee on autism met the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, earlier. We must look at the best means we can to provide everything across the board from assessment to therapies. The school inclusion model can play a major part in this. Regarding assistive technologies, the Minister of State spoke herself about a number of ideas but the fact is that the system is not always great at getting them into play. That needs to be looked at.

I am going to request some flexibility. This is an issue that is a tangent, but it is very important. Dave Teather is a full-time sub officer stationed in Dundalk. He has worked for Louth County Council fire and rescue for 33 years. His contract is expiring on Monday. Louth County Council sent him for a medical check to Meridian. He passed it and basically was told that he had been declared fit for work. The doctor who usually deals with Mr. Teather was not there, however, so he was told to come back in three months.

As a result, Louth County Council does not accept that he has been checked. Currently, it intends to process his retirement on Monday, 15 July. We really need this to be addressed as soon as possible. If the Taoiseach could use his offices to do so, Mr. Teather would be forever grateful, as would the people of Dundalk, and an absolutely necessary firefighter would be put in place.

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