Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this critical issue. We have to bring ourselves back to a few weeks ago when parents of children with special needs did not know where they were. One moment, they were told that the schools were to open and the next moment, they were told the schools were not to open. Many parents who contacted me felt they were not heard. I know that as Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion, Deputy Madigan is working with the likes as AsIAm, Down Syndrome Ireland, Inclusion Ireland and Family Carers Ireland, and I would like to acknowledge that.

I am glad to hear that special schools are opening this week. Mainstream classes are also to open later this month. My colleague, Senator Higgins, and the Committee on Disability Matters wrote to the Minister of State and stakeholders about the need for a safe return to personal education for children with special or additional needs, and the importance of other options and supports for children who are at high risk and their families. Like myself, the committee was clear in calling for special needs assistants to be prioritised on the list for a vaccine. We welcome that.

I will not repeat what has already been outlined by others in the House today. I have only one question about the most vulnerable children in our society, going forward. We must remember that children with special educational needs are children from all communities. We have to think about our children with special needs who will be sitting the applied and traditional leaving certificate examinations this year. There are few supports, if any, in place for children with additional needs in second level education. We have seen over the past year that our most vulnerable children are being left behind. My question to the Minister of State and the Department is what is to happen, going forward? What if, in two years' time, something else hits us, perhaps another pandemic? What will be the solution for these children, going forward, so that we will never again see this happen to the most vulnerable children in our society? Other Senators have outlined studies that have shown that many of our children with special needs have dramatically lost out on life skills. Instead of me speaking for eight minutes, I have only one question and I would be more than delighted if the Minister of State could answer it. What is the solution, going forward? That is my only question.