Special Educational Needs
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-11
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Louise O'Reilly (SF), Dublin Fingal West

That would be very welcome. The Minister of State said, and we agree on this, that the programme has a positive impact on the many children and young people who have taken part, and that parents, staff and the children themselves report improvements in confidence, attitude and readiness to return to school in September. There is nothing wrong with that. It is fantastic and a sign of something that is working. It is very natural and normal that I would come in the House and say, on behalf of my constituents, that if we all agree something is a good idea, that it should be happening and that there is a benefit for the children and the school community, then I have to circle back to my original question on why it is being cut. Why are there going to be kids who are attending Gaelscoil Baile Brigín who will be told, although I hope not because I hope when the Department looks at it that it will change it, that they may not have a place?
They may not, though, have a place, when the Minister of State himself acknowledged that this is a programme that works. It is a decent programme that the kids and the school community benefit from. It should not be this hard for the teachers and the school community to be able to access something where there is no disagreement. The Department says it is a good idea. The teachers say it is a good idea. The parents say it is a good idea. The kids clearly benefit from it. When all of these things come together, then I am left asking: why I am standing here asking for this to work when it has worked previously?
I have given a list of detailed questions. It was not my intention to blindside the Minister of State with them, but I hope that he will bring these to the attention of the Minister and get some answers not just for the school but also for the parents and the students. It is very hard to have to tell the students that they may not be accepted for the programme when they previously benefited from it. I do not want the school community, teachers, principal and deputy principals to be put into that position, and I am sure the Minister of State does not either.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-11