Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

It is the most extraordinary wording I have seen in an amendment and is so far from the truth that it beggars belief. The Minister promised to increase the number of national educational psychologists by 31 to 158 but only 11 have been delivered. The programme for Government pledges to increase the number of psychologists to 200 by the end of 2009 but given the lack of educational psychologists graduating, the slow recruitment process and the lack of resources it seems extremely unlikely that this will be reached.

I have quoted some individual stories and that is just the tip of the iceberg, as everyone in this House knows. Even if one were not moved by the individual stories, there is no doubt the economic arguments would make sense. The report of the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, the Minister's own organisation, makes this point that early intervention makes economic sense. If one does not intervene and help children with special needs at an early enough stage they go on to have increased difficulties, employment is more difficult for them, it is more difficult for them to pass exams and access third level education, life becomes much more burdensome and difficult and some will become more dependent on the State. It makes economic sense as well as everything else to put these services in place.

The Minister has been slow to implement the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 as advised by the NCSE. We all appreciate that massive change in special needs education cannot be introduced overnight. However, the Act compelled the NCSE to draw up an implementation plan to guide the Minister and assist her in enacting the new provisions. Why has the Minister been slow to introduce the implementation plan? Page 150 of the NCSE's report to the Minister warns:

The council, in presenting its proposals on the implementation of the EPSEN Act 2004 notes that the proposals represent the most cost-effective approach to addressing special educational needs. A failure to invest in this kind of approach will result in parents seeking that the rights of their children be met through the courts.

This is exactly what we have seen. If the Government fails to meet needs, then parents have to resort to the courts. Approximately 50 cases are waiting to go to court.

On the same page of the report, in section 6.12, it states that, "The council's view is that these provisions cannot wait until the end of the five-year implementation phase." Yet on the amendment we see no reference to this. We see an acceptance of the implementation date in the Bill and no recognition of what the council said to the Minister. In this report we see in black and white the Minister's expert group specifically set up to advise on special education stating categorically that many provisions need urgent attention, yet the Government amendment does not address that. This is a serious situation for families and children. Some 30 separate actions should have been implemented. Perhaps the Minister of State would respond, because the Minister did not respond in the Dáil.

I want to address briefly the question of inpatient and outpatient services for children, which is Deputy Devins's particular responsibility. A Vision for Change recommended 100 inpatient beds for children and adolescents in five units. Although these beds were promised by the end of 2007, it appears most of them will not be delivered until 2009. As I have said, mental health continues to be the Cinderella of our public health service. Why? Why are so many children being admitted to adult psychiatric wards? Between December 2006 and December 2007, 200 children were admitted to adult psychiatric wards. What are we doing admitting young children to adult psychiatric wards?