Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)

I thank Sinn Féin for this opportunity to talk again about this very important topic. Many parents face a challenge when they find out that their children have special needs. It is another challenge or big burden on many of them to ensure their children get a proper education. We know that every child has a right to education, and it is not fair that children with special needs are not always given the same opportunities that they rightly deserve. Concerned parents often contact me distressed that their children are unable to secure places in special education classes or that there are no special needs teachers in their schools. Too often, they have to fight for primary school education and special needs teachers, and when they then move on to post-primary school - I raised this before - they have to do it all again. Surely, they should be on the system and not have to replicate their efforts again. When a student is diagnosed, supports should follow through from primary to post-primary education automatically. The parents should not have to fight for this again. Every child has a right to education.

Another problem arises in that the Department says that it has X number of SNA places and that the country is covered. In many cases, however, this is not so. In very rural places, there is an awful distance between different schools. A school with an SNA for a child 7 or 8 miles away is no good if there is no transport, which often happens. We need to ensure that these SNAs are placed locally where the children are. They are entitled to receive support locally.

Many children with complex needs are still without necessary school places and parents all over the country are worn out from fighting for school places for their children. They should not have to fight for the basic right to education. Many schools have issues with funding in order to open new special classes because there is a shortage of space to expand. They do not have the room, staffing or resources. Many rural schools do not have the necessary facilities for additional sensory spaces, which many of them require and would benefit from. It is not fair that schools are not provided with the necessary funding to cater for special education classes.

There continues to be a lengthy delay with assessments, and probably the worst part of the whole thing is that children are not assessed in time. They have to be assessed. The sooner they are assessed, the sooner the matter can get resolved. Many parents wait for years for an assessment in the public system and often have to resort to paying for a private assessment for their children. This is only the first step for them. What about the families who cannot afford to go private? These assessments should be carried out as early as possible, and more therapists are needed in this area to avoid delays with diagnoses, which impacts the child's education.

It seems to me that autism and many of these complex needs are on the increase. We need to do more to find out what is causing it and if there is a reason. It seems to me that many more are presenting than in my younger days. Even when I was going to school, it did not seem to be an issue at all at that time. There were very few anyway. I am wondering what it is, and I have asked this question here before in different debates. Is there something causing it? Is it lack of some vitamins or what is it? We need to address that part of it as well because there could be something that is causing it.

Special education is the most important thing tonight, but I have heard other Deputies raising other issues. I have been making a request for many years to look at the issue of drivers who are being disallowed - only by Bus Éireann, or CIÉ - from driving a school bus once they are past 70 years of age. They are able to drive it in every other context. They can take the children to football matches and drive it for the local rural transport, but they cannot bring children to school.

I have seen many a good driver park up for the last time when they reach the age of 70 because they are no longer wanted. It is ageist because people are living longer and are active for longer. If Bus Éireann wanted, these people would undergo another medical rather than having one a year. It could be an independent medical test that people agree to undergo. It would be of benefit because many men and women are able to drive, but the Bus Éireann or CIÉ school bus section is stopping them from doing so. I cannot understand it. I ask the Minister to address this.

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