Ciarán Cannon (Fine Gael)

I also support the call for an immediate debate on special needs education. A cull of special needs assistants, SNAs, has taken place over the past number of weeks. Most parents of children availing of special needs services were not aware that the cull had taken place until they presented with the children on the first morning of the new term. I spoke to two or three sets of parents over the past few weeks who are seriously traumatised by what has happened. Where along the way did we lose our perspective?

The Government's only consideration seems to be to savagely impose cuts across the board without considering the human cost. I acknowledge the State is losing €400 million a week and we need to take stock of where we are going as a nation but we have rightly always prided ourselves both nationally and internationally on how we care for the vulnerable. I was contacted by one parent whose eight year-old daughter has special needs. She was a social recluse on entering school in rural Galway but she was transformed into a happy pupil. She returned to school three weeks ago to find the SNA with whom she had built a close relationship was no longer employed because a special educational needs officer deemed the SNA was no longer necessary. The child is not attending school and her parents will find it difficult to get her back to school. This human cost of the Minister's decision is being replicated throughout the country. I urgently ask the Leader to examine the issue of special needs education. Surely we have some priorities left as a nation.