Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I deeply appreciate the Minister's sentiments.

I have a number of issues with the Minister's response, one being that the school can apply to the Department.What happens if a school is not necessarily minded to apply? Sometimes it is easier to say "No". The fact the Department has no role in seeking a suitable school place for individual children will be of little comfort to the parents with whom I am dealing. We can see the difficulty. The NCSE is acting against schools, school patrons, parents, NEPS and health professionals. So many agencies are involved and parents go from one to the other to try to get a place for their children. I appreciate that the Minister acknowledges there are gaps, that it is not good enough and that working together we can find solutions. I appreciate that his official reply states a clearer picture will emerge in the coming weeks. This is fair enough. If we can discuss it again in a number of weeks' time we will have a clearer picture of where these four children are at and what the NCSE has come up with. Certainly, the entire system needs to change to be an awful lot more sympathetic and to rally around these parents who receive a diagnosis. Let us keep in contact and keep the conversation going. What these parents are going through is not good enough and the Minister appreciates this. He has also acknowledged that there are gaps, so let us work together to fill them and ensure the rights of the children I have named, Oliver, Mason, James and Riley, are vindicated and that they have a school place in September.