Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support Senator Mullins contribution on Syria. Children in Syria are displaced. They are not receiving any education. I am part of a programme called "UpForSchool" which is aimed at getting the 58 million children worldwide who are not at school worldwide into school. This September there will be a UN summit where all world leaders will be asked to sign a commitment to sustainable development goals to get children who are currently not at school into school. Syria is a particularly apt case. I think we should put our weight behind it. If world leaders do not do something about it, the rest of us will not get too far.

I thank the Minister for Education and Skills for listening to the case of children with Down Syndrome and for providing the resources for them. I tabled a motion on this issue and I think that debate made some small difference. Many parents have contacted me and asked that I thank the Minister on their behalf.

I also want to note my thanks to the Minister for Education and Skills for holding back on changes on special needs until adequate consultation has taken place in schools. The Minister is listening and she is making a difference. There are children with emotional difficulties, particularly in the area of bullying and I think we should focus on that.

I beg the indulgence of the Chair, to raise a question with the Leader. The 13 June this year is the 150th anniversary of W. B. Yeats's birth. His ancestral home is in County Galway, Thoor Ballylee. It was closed due to flooding in 2009 and we are doing our absolute best to have it reopened in time for his birthday. I am asking for one hour to be set aside for public statements when we can remember Senator W.B. Yeats as well as the poet and literary man, who has such a reach world wide.It is time this House also did something around that issue. I ask the Leader if we could also invite particular guests into the Visitors Gallery for that day.