Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

St. Killian's special school in Mayfield, County Cork, is the largest special school in all of Munster. No therapists have been in this school since 2019. Last November, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, met a delegation from the school which included the principal. At that meeting, the Minister of State promised to make €150,000 available to the school to hire therapists. The school soon put the arrangements for this to happen in place and waited. Meanwhile, St. Killian's was told that a pilot programme returning therapists to schools would be set up and would include a number of Cork schools. St. Killian's was not included in the pilot and the school continues to be denied the €150,000 the Minister of State promised. These kids urgently need therapy to fulfil their full potential in life. The State is playing a monstrous role by actively blocking, preventing and frustrating them from fulfilling their potential. This is abuse and it has to stop. Tonight I call on the Minister of State to guarantee that moneys are released to allow the school to hire those therapists at least until such time as it can be placed on a functioning pilot programme. I stress the word "functioning" because we have not seen sight nor sound of the programme that has been launched.

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