There are 1,700.

I, too, welcome Mary, Miriam, Maurice and Mary to the House today, together with your family members and supporters. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to meet you this afternoon. I understand that days like today are particularly difficult for you and your families because hearing an apology can bring back such painful experiences. I also recognise how important this moment is in acknowledging the harm that was done. It is an essential step in honouring your truth and supporting healing for you and tho…

I welcome the opportunity to address the House this evening, to speak to this motion and provide an update on special needs assistants. At the outset, I want to be very clear: this Government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs and the programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. I want to state categorically that no cuts are proposed, or will be proposed, to the provision of SNAs to children and young people across our school system. Last…

I fully appreciate and endorse the need to ensure all special education policies are child-centred and designed to assist young people thrive in school and help them to reach their full potential. That is why the Government has provided more special education teachers and more SNAs, doubled the number of special classes, opened 16 new special schools in the last five years and massively increased investment in the summer programme, which has seen a threefold increase in its budget. To say that the Government is not…

There is no mindset in the NCSE to cut resources. The NCSE appreciates the complexities of school life and deploys leniency in its outcomes, working to retain supports available to children in schools. Among the information the NCSE requires to conduct a review are student support files for each young person. These files, which are compiled by the teacher, document an individual child's needs and their progress over time. They help inform the school in providing an appropriate level of support. Parents know what is…

There are also the obvious and best outcome cases where children, with the assistance of their special education teachers and SNAs, gain independence and no longer require the same level of support. These outcomes are what our system is designed to achieve. I reject the assertion that the NCSE operates, as one Member of this House has claimed, as an "unaccountable gatekeeper". Once a SENO has finished a school review, a national panel within the NCSE reviews this decision to ensure consistency and that care needs a…

After these key documents are published, the NCSE can commence reviews of supports provided to schools for the 2027-2028 academic year which will uphold the integrity of the process, which allocates supports based on the needs of children. As is the case at any stage of the year, and indeed for any school, the NCSE will be available to support schools and discuss with them the deployment of SNA resources allocated to support their students and their care needs. Schools can also request a review of their allocation …

I understand the anger and upset that arose this week, and I fully accept that the process and outcomes were not properly communicated. I will work to ensure-----

-----this does not happen again. We want an education system where every child and young person feels and is valued, and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential. This Government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs. No cuts are proposed, or will be proposed-----

----- to the provision of SNAs. I thank families, the school communities and the young children and assure them that this Government is listening-----

-----and we are committed to doing the right thing.

I am not saying that.

I am not saying that.

I thank Senators for the opportunity to speak today and respond to the Education (Leave for Injuries) Bill 2025, which has been proposed by Senators Laura Harmon, Nessa Cosgrove, Patricia Stephenson and Malcolm Noonan, and indeed the many Senators across the House who have raised this important issue with me in recent weeks and months. Before I begin, I want to express my own personal thanks and gratitude to Sophie, who is in the Visitors' Gallery today. Sophie has been steadfast in her campaign for better conditio…

I am told am I am okay to stay here.

I thank the Cathaoirleach. He is very diligent. This is important. The aim of the occupational health strategy is to promote the health and well-being of employees in the workplace, with a strong focus on prevention. The occupational health strategy comprises the employee assistance service, EAS, and the occupational health service. The employee assistance service is provided by Spectrum Life and is a self-referral service where school staff have access to a dedicated freefone confidential helpline. The service is …

Coming from the Gallery.

I thank the Deputy for allowing me the opportunity respond to her question. I am deeply conscious of the enormous trauma that has been endured by all survivors of abuse. While nothing we do now can ever undo the hurt which has been caused, Government is committed to providing appropriate supports to survivors. Last July, the Oireachtas passed the Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Act 2025. The Act has two main purposes: to enable the delivery of ongoing health and education supports to survi…

Issues were raised with regard to a pension as well. Government has instead approved the expansion of the education support payments scheme under the Act to provide support for informal learning and self-development, as well as formal learning. This revised arrangement has been accepted by the survivors. My Department is finalising arrangements for the delivery of these supports as soon as possible. The Deputy can be assured of that. I would also note that my Department has engaged Sage Advocacy, an independent adv…

To reassure the Deputy, I know the importance given to this from the Taoiseach down in respect of providing these supports as quickly as possible. My Department is working to finalise the arrangements of the delivery of those supports the survivors agreed to as quickly as possible. That includes engaging with relevant Departments and agencies, particularly the Department of public expenditure and reform and digitalisation and the Departments of Health and Children, Disability and Equality and the HSE. Further infor…