Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

In The Irish Times this morning there are 14 letters about George Lee, but I would like to quote from a letter from Ms Jacinta Mangan, a special needs assistant at St. Joseph's school in Tallaght. I ask the Deputy Leader, Senator Boyle, to respond to the letter which reads:

The Department of Education is threatening to cut the staff in our school by two-thirds. This means that the teacher numbers will be reduced from 16 to six and our special needs assistants are being reduced from 17 to five.

The letter mentions that when the Department undertook a review of the school recently, it found it to be excellent and meeting the needs of its pupils. Ms Mangan states that if these cuts are implemented, she will not be able to continue the teaching and provide the care needed by these children. She asks how this can be allowed to happen. The letter concludes:

Our school has been abandoned by the State and our elected officials but we will fight Mr. O'Keeffe and the undemocratic quango, the National Council for Special Needs, he cowers behind. There is only one chance at childhood and our children deserve every opportunity.

Where is the fairness in decision-making at Government level, which means these children will not receive the special needs assistance they clearly need and which a Government report found they need? The Deputy Leader is a member of the Green Party which prided itself on preserving education in the renegotiated programme for Government. These children were not saved by the decisions made on foot of the Green Party's recent renegotiation with its Government partners. We need a debate in this House on what is happening as regards special needs education.

During the debate on the budget we spoke about the importance of fairness in decision-making. A Fine Gael motion on the unfair decision to preserve the conditions of very senior civil servants was voted down in the Dáil last night. Public servants who are paid less than €30,000 were heavily punished by decisions made in the recent budget. We should have a debate on such matters in the House next week.

Will the Deputy Leader explain how it is fair, after years of the Celtic tiger, to impose a cutback on children with special needs in Tallaght?