Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward the motion. In particular, I commend the recommendations made in the motion, where we see outlined the upholding of the vision of inclusive education to which we should all aspire. Unfortunately, it sometimes seems to become a little lost in our discussion that inclusive education is where we need to be at. All of us are sharing experiences today. It is the same in my constituency of Dublin Rathdown, including Stillorgan, Foxrock, Dundrum, Goatstown and Kilmacud. I have spoken with families who at their wits' end from the intensive campaigning they have had to do for many years to simply realise their child's right to education.

What is inclusive education? Inclusive education means that, as an individual, I access the right to an education with choice. I look at my local community and find an educational pathway that matches my needs, my values and my ideology, and somewhere that does not other me from peers in my age group and locality. That is what inclusive education is. I fear that we often lose sight of this. It is what we all should be striving toward.

We are talking about special education. Really, we should have moved beyond use of the word "special". We should have a mainstream education system which meets the needs of everybody within it and which prevents us from othering people in the disability community. We have a roadmap for this. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which we ratified in 2018, states clearly that a state's obligation is to provide an inclusive education system which is directed to:

a. The full development of human potential and sense of dignity and self-worth, and the strengthening of respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and human diversity;

b. The development by persons with disabilities of their personality, talents and creativity, as well as their mental and physical abilities, to their fullest potential;

c. Enabling persons with disabilities to participate effectively in a free society.

Unless we keep our eyes on that prize of truly inclusive education, that is what we will lose out on. We are losing out, as individuals, as families, as communities and as a society, on the contribution of all of our people.

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