Maura Hopkins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. As he will be aware, I wish to raise the very important issue of educational supports for children who have been affected by failings in the audiology service in community healthcare organisation area 2 and, specifically, counties Roscommon and Mayo. I have been working with the parents of several children who have been affected by this issue for some time. The parents, who have been through a very difficult time, have done everything feasible in terms of their dedication and efforts to get the best for their children.

It is very important that we have a co-ordinated approach for these children. I am not satisfied with the way in which they and their parents have been treated. As the Minister will be aware, I am very dissatisfied at the level of cross-departmental co-operation in terms of securing supports. I was initially involved in the setting up of a cross-departmental approach but I am not satisfied with the results to date. During the summer, the parents worked extremely hard to secure chair silencers for classrooms. We were told there was no funding available and that it should come from a minor works grant. It is unbelievable that there is no funding within the Department to provide chair silencers for children who have been affected by an audiology misdiagnosis. After much back and forth between the Department of Education and Skills and the HSE, we finally got approval for chair silencers.

Some children have been approved for one sound field system, but many need two because they receive resource teaching in another room. Some have been approved for two. There is real inconsistency.

The HSE allowed for educational psychological assessments to take place and recommended iPads for some children but these requests have been refused by the Department. The result is that applications are made to the Department, refused and appealed, and the correspondence then goes to the HSE. The Minister will understand that by that stage one is many months down the road.Obviously it is important that we support those children dealing with the challenges and difficulties of which I have spoken. It is critically important that we support them as they transition from primary to secondary school. I am not convinced, based on the evidence I have, that there will be long-term supports in place for these children. Their parents are not looking for extra supports. They have been let down by the State and have worked extremely hard since they received the letter of apology for having been let down. It is important that we support those children and their parents.

As a public representative in Roscommon I am very annoyed and dissatisfied with the way in which those children have been treated. I want to see a co-ordinated approach between the HSE and the Department of Education and Skills and for supports to be put in place as quickly as possible. I have reams of correspondence about what the Department and the HSE are doing but I do not have adequate evidence that enough support is being put in place. I know the Minister is aware of these issues but ask for an urgent approach to dealing with the additional supports that are required.