David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I firstly welcome to the Public Gallery many of the parents from County Waterford who have travelled and who are doing everything possible to ensure their children will get the appropriate education they deserve. The facts are that they should not have to lobby, travel or protest because they have enough to do to look after their children. We met many of them and they talked about the strains that all of this is putting on their relationships. Some of them have left their jobs. It has upended their whole life. The least the State could do is to ensure that appropriate places are there for their children come September, yet for many, that is not the case. Up to 40 or 50 parents across Waterford city and county do not know whether their children will have a place. They tell me that they do everything by the book. They have linked in with the local SENO. They contacted school after school. In fact, one parent told me of 16 different schools where she got a refusal. How heartbreaking is that for that family? This is replicated across many families.

There is no proper registry of how many children are actually in need. We know from last year in Waterford that many children are left behind. I gave a commitment to each and every one of those parents, some of whom are not here, that I am not going to leave any of those children behind. Deputy Conor McGuinness will of course work with the Government but also hold the Government to account to ensure that each and every one of those children get the education that they deserve.

What really sickens me is that last week in this Dáil, the first act of this Government was not to ensure that these children are looked after, or to ensure that children with scoliosis get the treatment they deserve, but to bring in a Bill for more Ministers and allowances for Ministers, following on from the grubby, dirty deal that you guys did with the Michael Lowry group of Independents. That, to me, sets the tone for this Government. Its first act should have been to say to those parents in the Public Gallery and all those across this State that we are going to move heaven and earth to make sure that their children have the appropriate education they deserve, not to have more Ministers, more allowances and more jobs for the boys and girls, which we got from the Government last week. The Government has to get its priorities right. Darren O'Rourke, who is our education spokesperson, met the families. We have given them a commitment. We are not going to leave one child behind.

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