John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I ask the Leader to raise with the Minister for Education and Science the concerns expressed to me by a number of parents of Down's syndrome children. Until two or three years ago, Down's syndrome children who attended regular primary schools were automatically entitled to resource hours. Three or four years ago, a change was made by the Government and now resource hours for Down's syndrome children attending national schools come from the total resource hours of the school. Only 220 or 230 Down's syndrome children are affected by this change. As a result, the number of resource hours to which they were entitled have been cut dramatically. Half an hour per day of resource teaching for a Down's syndrome child would have a dramatic effect on ensuring that he or she could remain independent into adulthood. As it is the day before the budget, I ask the Leader to raise that concern so that perhaps something could be done when the budget is announced.