Joe O'Toole (Independent)

It is appalling that work on the M50 is not carried out at weekends. However, I passed by one night recently at 3 a.m. and people were working on the motorway but they were not there four hours earlier. I came to the conclusion they must start work after the pubs close. Generally speaking, they are not working there at weekends.

This House has discussed on a number of occasions the problems arising from children coping with autism. Those difficulties arose from the Department of Education and Science failing to deal with the educational rights and needs of those children. What happened when the Oireachtas or the Department did not deal with those rights and needs? They finished up in the courts. Court judgments then determined how the State would operate in this area. A court judgment in Cork led to the appointment of special needs assistants and a range of other support structures in schools. These came in an unplanned manner as a reaction to the judgment.

Two days ago, a judge found against the Department of Education and Science when it provided a different certificate to students with dyslexia who had completed the leaving certificate. It had a conditional element to it which stated that while the certificate was issued, it should be noted that the student was not tested in spelling, grammar or syntax. I do not know where this will bring us. The Department of Education and Science is going to appeal this to a higher court. This should not or cannot be the way things are done. It is an appallingly bad way of dealing with this issue.