Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)

Fáiltím roimh an deis ráiteas a thabhairt ar fhoilsiú na tuarascála seo. Is cáipéis chríochnúil atá os ár gcomhair inniu. Molaim an rannpháirtíocht leathan le páirtithe leasmhara sa phróiseas, go háirithe ionchur suntasach na ndaoine óga a tógadh san áireamh.

Ag an stad seo, is beag duine sa Stát nach mbaineann an cheist seo leo ar bhealach amháin nó bealach éigin eile. Is fianaise é an freagra mór millteach a fuair comhairliúchán an athbhreithnithe seo - d’fhreagair 28,000 duine an suirbhé ar líne.

More than 28,000 people responded to the review's online survey and more or less everyone agreed on one thing, namely, that there is still dire underprovision of education for children with additional needs in the State. The EPSEN Act sets out clearly that every child in the State should receive an education responsive to his or her particular learning needs regardless of ability. Shamefully, this is still a faraway reality.

The portrait painted in the report is bleak but it is not anything new. It is the same story we all hear, day in and day out, from our constituents and in the media. Families with additional needs face chronic difficulties in accessing appropriate school places in their locale, assessments of need, therapies, SNAs and SET support. Parents and school staff are in a constant uphill battle against an unrelenting, unforgiving and frankly maddening system. A total of 60% of parents said they faced difficulties in getting a place for their child. Some respondents still had their child at home due to a lack of a school place, and 75% of school staff reported difficulties accessing supports. The same percentage said that the supports did not meet the students' needs at all. When asked if they thought Ireland's education system gives an equal right to education for all children, only 20% of students and former students answered positively, while the response from professionals was even lower, at 16.7%. These statistics are damning.

The review raised a number of other key issues that should remain on our radar. Crucially, despite significant progress, a lot of work still has to be done when it comes to attitudes. Children with additional needs consistently rate a compassionate teacher who sees them in their wholeness as most important to their learning. We know that children really value the relational aspect. Sadly, bullying also remains a problem for children with additional needs. An important finding is that many children in mild special schools arrive there on the back of negative experience in mainstream schools. Again, I urge the Minister and Minister of State to reconsider their Department's decision to redesignate those schools that function as a haven for students. Further to this point, the report found widespread support for our current mixed model of provision. The following statement from a teacher stood out to me:

I think an inclusive model of education is not about pushing all children into the same building to be taught together. [It is] about valuing all types of schools, and allowing children to benefit from the best fit for them at that time ...

I urge the Minister and Minister of State to heed this point. They should stop delaying and taking cover behind the banner of inclusion. We need proper mechanisms to register demand for mild special classes and more special classes of all types to be sanctioned. Investment must continue to accelerate this year to finally put an end to children actively being denied their constitutional right to education. I am pleading with the Minister to bring this message to the Government in the budget negotiations because there can be no greater priority than this. Our children cannot wait any longer.

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