Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I concur with what Senator Horkan said about the Stardust tragedy. Some of us here are old enough to remember the events of 38 years ago. There was no social media and hardly any telephones then. As a young woman I remember listening to the news getting drip-fed through to us. A fog of sadness and shock fell over Dublin. There were no answers at that time. The families and those who survived have fought for 38 years. This is a momentous day and a good decision by the Attorney General to reopen an inquest on the basis of new evidence available. I have raised the matter repeatedly. This is the time to congratulate the ordinary people of Dublin. They held steadfast and did not give up. They want the correction of the record which has already been corrected to say that it was not arson, but the correction that this inquest will bring to honour their loved ones, ordinary working-class people on the north side of Dublin. We need to embrace them and thank them for their tenacity in keeping the issue alive. This is an injustice that needs to be righted.

I wish to raise the issue of children with autism in the education system. The right to an education is one of the few rights enshrined in our Constitution, yet we continually deny it to children who have extra needs. I welcome the opening of seven classes in the Dublin 15 area under legal notices sent by the Minister, who is doing the right thing. The teachers and principals have difficulty with training, capacity, space, etc. We need to uphold and abide by the Constitution. Payment for home tuition for these autistic children is being delayed. Reduced hours are being offered - perhaps only one hour a day. In one case, the parents are often called to come in and take the child. When the child has issues and engages in acting out behaviour due to their diagnosis, the advice is to call the Garda. This is a six year old child. We should not be criminalising our children. I welcome this measure, and I hope we will speedily see provision of education for all in their communities and not 100 million miles away.