General Election candidate and Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne has said that children with special needs and additional education requirements are being utterly failed by the State, as over 200 Wexford children still wait for a basic Assessment of Need.
“The latest figures from September 2019 show that 205 children in Wexford are overdue an Assessment of Need. This is multiples of the average in other counties. Services in Wexford are way beyond capacity. We do not have enough therapists. We don’t have enough specialised school places. Parents are left having to beg for the basic supports that their children desperately need,” Deputy Byrne told WexfordToday.com.
“Fianna Fáil is pledging to recruit 800 additional therapists to work with children and adults with disabilities. The pledge, worth €40.9million, will include 300 additional therapists specifically for children, and the expansion of Early Intervention Services in schools. An additional €2million will be allocated for targeted autism support services. I will ensure that Wexford receives the direct benefit of this.
Deputy Byrne added; “We need to identify where the education system is failing children with special needs. My party is promising to: Overhaul the National Council for Special Education so its priority is to find appropriate school places for children with special needs; Ban the inappropriate use of reduced timetables; Produce a five -year forecast to determine where special education places are needed in each catchment; Ensure that the construction of new special schools and units are prioritised on the Department’s project list; and recruit 300 additional therapists for children waiting for assessments and therapies as part of a commitment to recruit 800 therapists for adults and children nationwide.
“This is about what kind of society we want for all families here in Wexford and across the country. We cannot continue to accept a situation where increasing numbers of our most vulnerable children are being denied their most basic rights right here on our doorsteps,” concluded Deputy Byrne.