Do something about it.

Can I take the opportunity to say, "Up Tipp"?

I knew that would be a bit of a crowd pleaser. More than 15,000 children with autism and disabilities are overdue their assessments of need and that number is expected to increase beyond 25,000 by year's end. In each one of these cases, the Government is breaking the law. The Taoiseach's excuse for this is that capacity has been reached in terms of psychologists and therapists but a 14-year-old campaigner, Cara Darmody, a Tipperary child, has presented the CEO of the HSE, Bernard Gloster, with options to tap psycho…

-----and her assessment has been accepted by Mr. Gloster. She wants to know very simply-----

-----what the Government will do about this.

That is because of the PPPs the Government has championed.

This is outrageous.

When your developer buddies went-----

When your developer buddies went bust in-----

I raise again the critical shortage of special needs assistants and the devastating consequences of that in our schools. I will offer two examples from my constituency. Max Ryan is a nine-year-old student at St. Vincent's National School, Glasnevin. He has autism, global development delay, sensory issues, speech and language delay and separation anxiety. When Max entered junior infants, there was one other child in his class with additional needs and St. Vincent's had 2.5 SNA positions. Max is now going into fourth…

Not at St. Vincent's.

Not for those schools.

I have given them. I will write to the Taoiseach.

Before I begin, I want to say how very sorry I am to hear of the death of Brother Kevin Crowley. I offer condolences to everybody who loved him. Brother Kevin's work at the Capuchin Day Centre is the stuff of legend. He really was a champion for the poor and for everyone who fell on hard times, without judgment and without exception. He lived for others and he absolutely changed lives. We will all feel his loss very greatly. Ireland has lost a great son. Indeed, his beloved Cork has lost a true legend. Ar dheis Dé …

The Minister said a lot there but did not answer the question. He is the Minister for public expenditure and this is a straightforward question. Will the cost be €2,000 or €3,000? On the basis of what he is saying and according to the logic of his presentation, I assume the cost will be €3,000. The Minister, Deputy Lawless, has announced an increase in student fees to €3,000. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, needs to stand up and confirm that. People are waiting for confirmation. Will it be €3,000? People have to bud…

The Government is going to hike up the cost of their rent-----

-----and is now going to hike up their fees,-----

-----but the Minister does not even have the decency to be clear about it.

I ask the Minister to confirm-----

-----if students will pay €2,000 or €3,000.