Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I support 99% of Senator Fitzgerald's contribution on special needs education. I also read the letter this morning and the only aspect on which I take issue and on which I am sure the Senator will agree with me is the reference to the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. An examination of the role of the council in this matter would answer the Senator's question. The NSCE was charged by the Government with producing methods and timelines for implementation of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act. It has produced one of the best reports I have read. In one four or five page section the report addresses every requirement of the Act and sets out actions, timelines and resource allocations for each aspect of the legislation. I ask my colleagues on the Government side to read the report which I will circulate and note how the timelines have been ignored and the Government has failed to make progress.

We do not need to reinvent the wheel. The National Council for Special Education has done a mighty job in committing everything to paper. The point the letter writer was no doubt trying to make was that the council had been ignored by the Government. The House should debate the four or five pages of the NCSE report on the implementation of the Education for the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act. The report clearly identifies when certain steps should be taken, how many psychologists should be recruited, the timeframe within which individual children should be assessed, the means for determining individual educational plans and other issues.

I reiterate a point I made yesterday on the Order of Business. I have made the same point to colleagues in the trade union movement. Watching television images from Greece yesterday one could be forgiven for believing a revolution rather than a 24 hour national strike was under way. People believe the bitty trade union action taking place in various workplaces around the country will not lead to anything. While I hope that is the case because no one wants strike action, these actions develop their own dynamics. Small measures can lead to larger ones and annoyance among individuals can lead to a serious row which could eventually result in people losing control at all levels.

There has never been a more important time for the Government, the trade union movement, business leaders, including IBEC, and others to show a united front and act in concert to distance Ireland from Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal. We must move forward together. People should not delude themselves that the current industrial action will go away and nothing will happen. As Senator Buttimer stated yesterday, bush fires become forest fires and eventually develop into one raging, out of control inferno. The Government must take control. Trust is lacking between the trade union movement and the Government. All parties must act for the good of the country. I appeal to the Deputy Leader to commence the process by indicating his party's view on how this issue can be advanced.