Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I raised the issue of summer provision last week on the Order of Business and I tabled the Commencement matter on Friday. Thankfully, however, the Department released details of the summer provision programme yesterday. It is a great programme. In 2021, the budget doubled to €40 million, which shows the seriousness of the Minister of State's commitment to the programme. Unfortunately, there was a delay this year in announcing the programme and that delay meant 26 out of 126 special schools have said they will not be running the programme due to the delay. Last year, the programme was announced on 11 May and only €15 million of the budget was actually used.

What effort is the Department making to ensure that schools are incentivised to run these programmes? They mean so much to families and the children who participate in them. For families, it is some respite. The summer is a daunting time for the families of children with additional needs because they do not have the extra childcare, and for some children who do not have other friends it is their only social outlet. It is very important to incentivise schools to open these programmes. Perhaps the Minister of State will contact the 26 schools that have decided they will not be able to run the programme. Next year, perhaps the Department might be able to announce details of the programme before Easter just to give schools a chance to get their logistics in order. Schools are outlining to us the difficulties they have with regard to staffing, the pay rates and the late communication from the Department in respect of the programme.

There is a major commitment from the Department, which is very welcome, but we have to do a little more to ensure that these programmes happen. It might be the case that the Minister of State will have to mandate schools to run these programmes for children with additional needs because they do not stop having additional needs during the summer months. The barriers and obstacles before families do not go away for the summer. Having all this time off creates a huge amount of anxiety for families. Something could be done about it.