Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. This Private Members' motion is laudable in its aims but, unfortunately, I am not at all convinced that we will see any action whatsoever from the Government on foot of it. As I mentioned on the Order of Business earlier today, in May 2013 as part of a Private Members' motion that I brought to the House I sought a commitment from the then Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, that he would implement the National Council for Special Education report findings on the issue of discrimination. Unfortunately, little has happened since that debate to improve the situation.

In July of this year we had the sorry spectacle of the Department of Education and Skills fighting two families in the High Court. The families were seeking, among other things, orders overturning the inflexible policy of the Department in giving additional support hours to children with Down's syndrome. It took the intervention of the President of the High Court, Mr. Justice Kearns, to compel the Department to see sense by strongly suggesting to the Department that it settle the matter by granting additional support to the children. The judge directed the Minister to allocate four hours and 15 minutes additional resource hours weekly to the children's school. The Department's principal concern, as articulated by the senior counsel in the case, was not to concede any of the claims made by the parents to avoid an avalanche of similar cases. That was what was said. While at least it has the merit of transparency it has little else to recommend it as an approach. It is not an enlightened way to go about the accommodation of the needs of a vulnerable group of disabled persons. All this follows a pattern of shabby treatment of parents of children with Down's syndrome. We saw the fiasco during the summer whereby parents were asked to prove if their children still had Down's syndrome to keep their medical cards.

I have previously spoken about the National Council for Special Education report published in 2013. The report highlighted soft barriers which certain children with disabilities face when enrolling. These barriers contribute to a perceived lack of welcome for disabled children. Needless to say, schools are entitled to put in place their admission criteria. However, barriers discriminating against children on disability grounds are unjustifiable. In last year's debate I asked the Minister to introduce a robust framework to prevent such discrimination. I note that the education (admission to schools) Bill 2013 is on the Government's priority list and we will have a full debate on that legislation when it comes before the House. Nevertheless I welcome the Bill in so far as it may tackle unjustifiable enrolment barriers. I will be working to ensure that the Bill encompasses the recommendations in the NCSE report. In particular, I note that it was strongly recommended in the report that the Department introduce an enrolment framework for schools to ensure every child with special education needs is protected from school enrolment practices or policies with overt or covert barriers that block his or her access to enrolment in the school; that every child with special education needs may enroll in the nearest school that is or can be resourced by the NCSE to meet his or her needs; that a school must enroll a student with special education needs, if so directed by the special educational needs organiser, on the basis that the school will be provided with resources in line with national policy; and that a school must establish a special class if so requested by a SENO.

However, the Bill is for the future. At present it is disheartening that again this year I have spoken to parents who have faced the same lack of welcome when enrolling their children with disabilities in schools. As I said last year, this is chiefly due to the hoops that parents and schools must jump through to gain resources, in particular for those children with Down's syndrome. Down Syndrome Ireland has related to me that parents dread the uncertainty associated over resource allocation each school year.

The motion calls on the Government to take steps to ensure equality of access to education and other opportunities for persons with disabilities. It may be news to some Members that there is legislation languishing on Committee Stage which, if enacted, would secure appropriate resources for children with Down's syndrome. Deputy Finian McGrath's Down's Syndrome (Equality of Access) Bill would provide for a regime whereby Down's syndrome would be regarded as a low-incidence disorder and therefore the inclusion of children with Down's syndrome under that categorisation would secure for them the extra teaching resources that they need. Deputy McGrath said it was unfortunate that it had been left to him to bring this legislation forward and I wholeheartedly agree with him.

The real solution must come from the Minister for Education and Skills. At the stroke of a pen she could allay the fears of parents by allocating full resources to children with Down's syndrome. This is exactly what I called for last year. Unfortunately at the time my motion was defeated by Government Senators, including Members tabling this motion. I assume they share my disappointment that so little has been done in this area since that debate. Unless the Government commits to making real and immediate changes for disabled people this motion and the associated debate will have been an exercise in futility.