Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

I thank my colleagues who have spoken on the motion. The Minister of State has given us a detailed account of the Government's approach to the issue of disability and special educational needs for which I thank him. However, there is a gap between the amendment moved by the Government, the content of the Minister of State's speech and the reality on the ground. I can see that the Government is very concerned about structures, co-ordination between Departments and the new posts it has put in place. They are very important but the reality is that on the ground, people who need to access special needs services are not getting them and waiting lists are too long.

It is imperative that this is tackled, which is why we put this motion to the House. Everybody on this side of the House and across it has daily experience of families who are trying to get their children assessed, who need special services and who are routinely told that they must wait a year, a year and a half, two years or three years. Staff in my office phoned the HSE and double checked on the waiting time for speech therapy. We were told that it was two years. We asked principals in our local schools what was the waiting time for assessment and were told that it was between one and three years. These are very long waiting times. To be the mother or father of a child between the ages of two and five who needs assessment and to be told that one must wait two or three years when one cannot afford to do anything else is devastating. That is the reason we have moved this motion and have called for more urgency in addressing this issue.

I am very concerned at some of the Minister of State's comments. He said that many of the provisions of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Need Act have already been implemented, the rest will be phased in by October 2010 and assessments will be started in 2010. This is inaccurate and is not good enough. I can only assume that this is coming from the Minister for Education and Science. There is a degree of complacency in what has been said about the implementation of this Act. It is simply not good enough and is not accurate. There is a lot of rationalisation about what is a delay in the development of these services, about how principals can approach assessments and about the limit of two assessments per 100 children in a given year for schools availing of the scheme. It is an example of failing to acknowledge the reality of what is facing principals, teachers, parents and children. It is not good enough given the resources available in this country.

In January and February of this year 64% of children who need psychiatric care were admitted to adult psychiatric units. It is not good enough in Ireland in 2008 to provide this kind of service to our children. I hope the Minister of State, Deputy Devins, will get the funding that is needed and that the money that was taken from the mental health area will be given back to the Minister of State so that he will be able to implement A Vision for Change and change the reality that is facing families and their children who are in need of mental health services. It is simply not good enough, which is why Fine Gael tabled this motion. I commend the motion to the House and ask the Government parties to support it.