Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I want to take up the issue of a child who is registered blind and who is due to start at Rampark National School in north Louth in September. The child can navigate around quite well but he is sensitive to lighting levels and they greatly affect him. It has been stated that he needs an SNA from a health and safety perspective. The principal of the school says communication with the NCSE has been incredibly difficult and the school has been given a hard “No” and told there will be no additional support. The school has been told to use the allocation that it has. It has promised the parents it will do everything it possibly can, but this situation needs to be looked at. There is an issue with SNA allocations and there are a number of other issues in ensuring we have appropriate places, but I ask that this particular issue be looked at and that there be an overall look at SNA allocations and appropriate places.

See this speech in context