Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

I appreciate the Minister of State's reply. Senator Fitzgerald accepts that this amendment is 99% valid. In regard to gaining access to this body, it has been said that it will constitute another layer of bureaucracy. Parents will find it as difficult to gain access to officials in the national council as to officials in the existing structures. I outlined the difficulty parents have in getting through to an official in a section in the Department with definite responsibility in this area.

Parents are reluctant and intimidated when they get through to a senior official in the Department in order to do what is the best for their child where a need has been established. The response can often be cold and distant. A parent who is driven by a determination to do what is best for his or her child, and who has the support of the school principal, teachers and the relevant agencies, will have to deal with another layer of bureaucracy in terms of this council. Parents who are on the edge and under pressure may find it difficult and daunting to get through to an official in the national council. For that reason, it would be preferable if a co-ordinating body was structured locally.

Having regard to the health board or its replacement body, people will have identified their responsibility at local level. I ask the Minister of State to ensure that a body is put in place to ensure that these people are drawn together and their heads knocked together so there is a response to a legitimate need. It is for no other reason that I say that. Great difficulty will be experienced in dealing with the council as proposed. If, as the Minister of State and Senator Fitzgerald said, in future, and it will be sooner rather than later, personnel in the national council find they are being dragged in every direction throughout the country, that will highlight a void in terms of services for those with special needs which will have to be filled.