Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

I welcome and concur with others who referred to the breath of fresh air that is the Minister of State. The fact that he came to the House on short notice to deal with this issue is very welcome.

I welcome that children with special needs will be exempt from any changes. There has been enough talk in recent times about children with special needs, the difficulties they face, the cutbacks in SNAs and so on. At least getting them to school is not up for grabs. The Minister of State has asked for reviews. I ask him to allow some flexibility. If local arrangements have been proposed by parent groups, school principals and so on that are workable and financially prudent he may be able to incorporate them in future.

The fact that the cost of the service increased from €50 million in 1997 to €108 million in 2010 while the numbers using the service dropped by 30,000 means questions have to be asked. In the current climate there is no area of Government spending on education where questions cannot be asked about value for money, whether we are getting the best return for children attending school and whether there is a better way of getting a return on the money spent or using it in a more efficient and prudent manner.

It is the responsibility of Government to ensure that the money is spent prudently and in the best interests of children.