Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for that. We all appreciate the expansion in the number of places but the reality is that there was a time when Ministers here would get up and say that one did not need an assessment of need and that the education system did not need a diagnosis to provide additional support. Of course, that is the case for special schools but what we are seeing now is a potential deepening inequality between families. One of the families that approached me could not afford to go private for their child's assessment of need. They waited and their child is aged five now. They only got their assessment of need this year. They have been precluded from the process because they did not get all their service statement. They will now have to wait until next year. Another family with a child of the same age had the money to go and get the assessment done privately, and they have now got through the hoop and they are going to be assessed for next September. Why are we exacerbating this inequality between families with children with additional needs? It is beyond me why we would have a process put in place to supposedly show compassion and understanding, and to prevent the mismatch that we are seeing happening whereby children who should be in special schools are in autism spectrum classes, and children who should be in autism spectrum classes are in mainstream classes. This is a new barrier that has come into the education system.

I ask that the Minister of State would take this back to the NCSE. Something has to be done now, not for next year. It must be done now with regard to those families who have gone through the 1 October deadline and presented paperwork, even if it is incomplete, so that they are given a letter of eligibility. The second key thing is the need for a special school in Dublin 1. I ask that this be a priority for the Minister of State, of all the areas across the country, given the level of educational disadvantage. We need to see progress on that.

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