Rónán Mullen (Independent)

We have an ironic situation. Earlier today, we discussed a proposed constitutional amendment, one provision of which is that the State would cherish all the children of the State equally. Now we find ourselves discussing the most vulnerable members of our society. I do not wish to play party politics or any other kind. I recognise it is difficult in these times to make ends meet but I hope the most vulnerable in our society will always be at the top of our priority list. The children we are talking about ought to be at the top of that list.

When one sees parents and supporters of children with special needs taking the trouble to attend debates in this House one knows they are concerned. I spoke briefly with a representative of St. Joseph's school in Tallaght. They are hoping for a stay of execution while the various issues in their case are resolved. They fear cuts in provisions which would affect their loved ones. I hope there will be openness and dialogue in an effort to meet their needs.

Various figures have been cited for the number of jobs which have been or are being cut. I have heard it said that the Government provided too many SNAs at one time. I do not know if that claim is true. I do know there is no need for the funding of these programmes to be cut to the extent it has been. That cannot be justified. There may have been more money to go round in times of plenty. This may have caused people to develop their expectations, but always in ways which were necessary and appropriate because they were dealing with people's real needs.

I am involved with the trusteeship of second level schools through CEIST, the Catholic Education, an Irish Schools Trust. These schools say they have already seen an indirect impact on the most disadvantaged children because of the reduction in numbers of special needs assistants at primary level. This, in turn, will have an impact on students at second level as they are deprived of the fullest possible opportunity to develop.

There have also been cuts in other areas, such as grant allocations, and increased pupil teacher ratios in subject significant areas such as the leaving certificate applied programme, LCAP, the leaving certificate vocational programme, LCVP, and the junior certificate school programme, JCSP. All of this, taken together with what we are discussing, must give great cause for concern. The number of special needs children is rising and we must plan for appropriate assistance for them. The worldwide figures for autism alone have been on the rise for the past number of years, which is a matter of major concern.

We must ask about the appropriateness of cutbacks in the middle of the year, when people cannot plan to deal with them properly. Issues surround the making of special needs assistants redundant where boards of management are not responsible for making people redundant but are responsible for making redundancy payments. We are seeing a breakdown in the system, creating all sorts of problems for good people in different areas.

We must revisit the decisions taken to date. We cannot allow children who are in need to be neglected. We must do something to reform the budget cuts which have had such adverse effects on the lives of many children in need and on our education system.