Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kieran O'Donnell. It is great to have the opportunity to debate this issue regarding the Minister for Education's need to review the process of assessment of the criteria for people seeking the assistive technology grant. It is a very serious and significant issue, with the Ombudsman for Children having received more than 1,800 complaints, 30% of which related to education, and my understanding is that the majority were about this particular issue.

This concerns the ability of people to access technology. The assistive technology grant gives the opportunity to children to engage appropriately within the class setting. If we have a situation where the grants are being denied, as is the case at present, then the ability of these kids to reach their full potential is lost. I am deeply concerned about what is happening at the moment. There has been a lot of speculation and talk about these issues and we need to move forward, if possible.

A parliamentary question was tabled in 2021 and the reply set out that the criteria special educational needs officers, SENOs, were using were outdated, and they were using criteria that went back to a circular published in 2002 instead of a circular published in 2013. Because of their ability to go back to this circular from 2002, they are disproportionately taking the grant from children who need technology, and that has knock-on implications for them going through the entire education system. There are children in the third or fourth centile who are not getting the grant. It is beyond belief that children who are in such need of this technology are not able to get the grant.

The bar in the circular has been set miles too low. The reason they are going back to the circular of 2002 is to limit the grants being given out for financial reasons only.That is a really poor statement to make about an institution like the Department of Education. What we are talking about here is the need to have a grant which is available for kids so they can get their technology at an early stage and can go through the education system. There are so many issues about this. It limits the potential for a child to reach his or her full potential. It is shocking that we are limiting the ability of that child to become what he could become in adult life. There is also a huge issue around the fact that if one gets the technology, it stays with the school. I know of a student in west Cork who had the technology in primary school before she left to go to secondary school. It is now the month of May, and she has not got her technology for first year yet. She has gone through a portion of her secondary school education with no technology. It is like taking the glasses away from a child who is visually impaired, and saying, "Go to the classroom". For that reason, that family and that child are totally disenfranchised when it comes to her ability to reach her full potential.

We also have an issue around the schools. Primary and secondary schools need to have an understanding of the technology itself. This is only the grant. One can still use the technology in the school. This is only about the financial means to get the technology. If one has the means to have a computer or iPad at home, the technology is on our phones at this stage. Speech, text and all these issues are on one's phone. We need to have an education policy put in place for the schools, because the schools do not realise what this is actually about half the time.

The other significant issue we have is that, unfortunately, the State Examinations Commission board will only determine when one can use that technology within weeks of one starting one's exam. To put this in context, a student in Bandon who got her technology in first year was told just yesterday that she can use it for her junior certificate, which is starting in a few weeks' time. If she was told "No", she would have lost her ability to do her junior certificate. It is beyond belief.