Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)

Most importantly, following the review, these recommendations must be implemented in a timely manner and continue to be reviewed by the Department. I compliment all stakeholders involved in the review, particularly those affected on the front line. I acknowledge the work done by schools, staff, parents and children.

When it comes to additional educational needs, a large cohort of students throughout the country do not have the same access to education as their friends, family members or even siblings have. It is clear from the findings of this review and through our constituency offices that one of the biggest, if not the biggest, issue in additional needs is the severe delays in the assessments of need. The lengthy waiting list for diagnostics and assessments of need can leave parents and children waiting months and months for diagnoses in the first instance. They then wait more months waiting for the assessment of need in order to provide children with the necessary assistive technology and sustainable school place they require.

I am working with a constituent to try to acquire assistive technology for their child. The child falls just below the criteria for assistive technology but requires this resource for their education, according to the child's teachers and the school principal. It is now on the school or the parent to source this technology. While criteria for qualifying for assistive technology must be in place, it is a sad indictment that parents in schools are facing this financial burden just because a child is not ticking every box. This shows that the 18% cut in the ICT grant in 2024, from €79 million to €65 million, will not work. Nobody would deny a child access to assistive technology the child needs. It is needed to support the child's education. In this scenario, the criteria and application process are too rigid and another child may go without the resources needed for his or her education.

We are acutely aware that more than 10,000 children are now waiting on assessments of need and that tens of thousands of children are waiting on essential therapies. These delays ultimately leave children attending schools in places that are not suitable for their education and without the technologies required for their learning. Schoolchildren are attending mainstream schools and losing years in education as a result of insufficient resources and waiting on assessment. These children are being failed by this State. The frustration among parents and pupils is there for all to see. We saw it when protests were being held outside Leinster House and 24-hour sleep-outs were being held outside the Department.

Delays in diagnosis and assessment of need have serious consequences for a child. Delayed appropriate education has knock-on effects for almost every facet of education and these continue into adulthood, the workplace and employment opportunities. There needs to be a determined strategy now to rapidly ramp up the resourcing and staffing of these assessments. The really discouraging thing is how long we will all need to have this conversation. I acknowledge there have been developments in this area but children are still being left on waiting lists and are attending school places that are not appropriate for their needs.

I saw the announcement on the inclusion of in-school therapists and I am absolutely delighted that this great initiative will be rolled out in special schools. Will we have the staff ready for September? I hope we do.

Parents of children with additional needs are likely to be travelling long distances every morning and afternoon to get to and from a school that provides for that additional need. This is, of course, if they can access a special school. In my constituency of Cork North-Central, in the Minister of State's county, we hope a special school will be opened in Carrignavar. Right now, however, the resources are not in Carrignavar to open this special school. This means children will continue to travel long distances to get to school. The Government must focus on the need to provide the resources, be that through Irish Water or the local authority, to get the school up and running. It is unacceptable that every school year hundreds of children with additional needs cannot access a suitable school place near where they live or must travel for long distances.

It is very disappointing that the NCSE has no centralised application system. As policymakers, we do not know whether there are children still waiting for a school place. We do not know this because of the failure of the NCSE to have a centralised application system.

On SNA provision, the Minister of State knows as much as I do that the role of SNAs in schools is pivotal. SNAs do not get the same level of respect as their colleagues in the school setting get. They deserve that respect. We need to get rid of the 72-hour obligation on SNAs. I know the Minister of State agrees with me on that because he understands the role SNAs play in schools. SNAs should not have to clean out school lockers or do administration work, which is not within their remit, at the end of the school year just to meet this 72-hour obligation.

There is an equality issue for children with additional needs and a workers' rights issue for special needs assistants. The dogs in the street know that. We can wax lyrical about how much we value SNAs and their work but ultimately it means nothing unless we ensure that SNAs are well paid, secure in their work and have appropriate conditions to carry out their work.

I also want to look at the special educational needs co-ordinator role. As I have said previously, I have worked with these people and I know the level of work that falls within their remit. The SEN co-ordinator role has to be a stand-alone position in a school, rather than a promotion for a teacher.

I welcome this review which has a lot of recommendations. They need to be tackled immediately by the Department and I have no doubt they will be as I accept the Minister of State's bona fides on this matter.

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