Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)

I acknowledge the campaign of 14-year-old Cara Darmody, campaigning for improvement in the waiting list for assessment of needs. A total of 15,000 families are now waiting on an assessment of need. It is completely unacceptable, and I find it really difficult to listen to Government party Senators telling Cara how wonderful she is when it has been under their Government that the waiting list for assessment of needs has increased to 15,000. Rather than congratulating Cara, the Senators’ time would be better spent tackling their own Minister and ensuring the Government adheres to the laws it has in place in respect of assessment of needs.

I also raise the situation in a special school, Enable Ireland Sandymount School, where the children have severe disabilities. They have been waiting more than a year and a half for repairs to be carried out on the roof. I understand there are still two rooms unavailable to the children there. Because of the severe disabilities they have, one of those rooms is a soft play room. The children need this room during the day to stretch, relax and take a break. Those rooms are out of action and therefore the school is cramped and far from ideal for the children. We need the Minister to come to the House to explain why Enable Ireland Sandymount School has had to wait more than a year and a half to have two rooms that have been out of action put back in place.