I, too, want to commend the achievements of Cara Darmody due to her dedicated campaigning for increased access to assessment of need. It is absolutely shameful that she is outside the gates pleading with the Government to do what it knows it needs to do, on one of the worst nights of the year. Not one child in Mayo has had their assessment of need completed within the legal timeframe so far this year. That is 0%. There are 291 children in the county waiting for an assessment of need. This is absolutely shameful. Children and families are being failed dramatically and are being left in limbo, waiting for supports they desperately need. The Government is not only failing these children and their families; it is breaking the law. Without a change in approach, waiting lists will continue to skyrocket. Children will continue to be denied the essential education they deserve and are entitled to. Every child has a right to an education. Emergency funding must be made available. Tonight the Government must not only not oppose this motion, it must make an honest commitment to the specific timeframe in which it will meet its legal obligations. A real and immediate workforce plan must be implemented to train, recruit and retain staff. That must be done right across the island. We need to have an all-island approach to the recruitment of staff and the recognition of qualifications. Adequate funding for special needs services, including the provision of appropriate school places for children with additional needs, must be made available. The pathway to what we are talking about here tonight has been paved with broken promises. Whatever happened to us cherishing all of the children equally? It is shameful that we are in one of the richest countries in the world and parents in my constituency of Mayo and around this country look at their child, at their children, day after day, knowing the therapies they desperately need will impact them right throughout the rest of their lives.

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