Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also wish to raise the issue of special needs education. We all subscribe to the fact that we are in stringent times and that money is not as readily available to the Exchequer as it was previously. That is a fact. However, the Government must govern and make decisions on how money is spent. The decisions being taken are not protecting the most vulnerable in our society. Two specialist preschools in County Donegal, one in Letterkenny and the other in Donegal town, will close by 2015 as a result of the Government's policy to mainstream specialist preschool education for children who require nurses and medical assistance. These children are now being asked to attend mainstream preschools. Mainstream preschool professionals have stated that this is not possible. Therefore, the decision being made by the Government will affect children who can hardly walk or are blind or unable to feed themselves, which is a disgrace. No Government in any State should stoop to that level of attack on the most vulnerable.

The 25% reduction in the provision for special needs assistants is another glaring example of this. There are other choices and alternative ways of governing and raising money. We are currently spending almost €650 million on foreign aid to fund abortion clinics in Ethiopia and so on. Is this the right thing to do at a time when cuts are being made to special education facilities for the most vulnerable children in our own country? The Constitution states that all children should be cherished equally.