Cuireann an scéim fhoráil Iúil tacaíocht ríthábhachtach samhraidh ar fáil do pháistí a bhfuil riachtanais bhreise acu. Níl na tacaíochtaí seo roghnach le haghaidh roinnt páistí; tá siad riachtanach. Go fóill ar fud an Stáit, tá an Rialtas ag insint le teaghlaigh go bhfuil na tacaíochta seo á gcailliúint acu. I mbliana, níor osclaíodh an tréimhse iarratais don scéim fhoráil Iúil ach ar feadh seachtain amháin. Sna blianta roimhe seo, bhí míonna ag na scoileanna leis an bpróiseas a chur i gcrích. Beidh páistí a bhfuil riachtanais bhreise acu fágtha ar leataobh anois gan na tacaíochtaí ríthábhachtacha seo don samhradh. Is iad na páistí féin a bheidh thíos leis. The July provision scheme provides vital summer educational supports for children with additional needs, and for many children, these supports are not optional; they are absolutely essential. They provide structure, routine, stability and continuity during the summer months. Yet, right across the State, families are now being told their children are going to be denied and will lose out on these vital supports because of a deeply unfair and badly handled decision by the Department of education. I have been contacted by principals, teachers and parents who are deeply distressed. They are all telling me the same thing; they are angry, upset and desperate to be heard. Parents are lying awake at night, worrying about what will happen to their child now. How can a Government, which constantly proclaims to include and support children with additional needs, allow this to happen? Schools and families have been pleading with the Department to intervene but their appeals are falling on deaf ears over and over again. This year, the application window for the July provision was open for just one week. In previous years, schools had months to complete this process. Many schools simply did not have sufficient time to process applications, gather the paperwork and complete the registration before the portal was closed. The real life consequences of all this is that children with additional needs are now locked out of vital education support this summer. It is absolutely appalling. However, it is not an isolated problem. This is happening to families right across the State. Parents are facing enormous battles accessing services for their children. As we know, they are already struggling to secure assessments, therapies, tutors and SNAs, and many feel they are constantly being pushed from one waiting list to another - from one bureaucratic process to another. Meanwhile, supports remain under-resourced and out of reach for many of them, and now we have this on top of all that, with more stress, worry and upset. These are children with additional needs. We have to think about that for a minute. These are children with additional needs, and their families are already carrying a huge emotional and financial burden. These are parents who spend every day fighting for supports and services, simply to ensure their child is treated with dignity. Now, Government is effectively telling them their child will lose out on support that they so desperately need and have relied on year after year because of an unreasonably tight deadline, bureaucracy and red tape. Families do not understand it, teachers do not understand it and, for the life of me, I do not understand it. This is mean spirited and penny pinching. It is penny pinching at the expense of vulnerable children, and it is not on. We have raised this again and again. Teachers have raised this and parents have been pleading with Government to act but it refuses to do so. Yesterday, my party Leader, Deputy McDonald, raised it with the Taoiseach and he ignored her question. Is the Tánaiste going to listen and do the right thing? Will he acknowledge the hurt, anxiety and anger at the decision Government has taken and will he listen to the pleas of the parents, teachers and principals? Will he immediately reopen and extend the application portal, so that no child with additional needs will be denied supports this summer? We need certainty right now.

Sentiment score: -0.07

I welcome the decision to reopen the portal, and I ask that clarity be given to schools and parents immediately. The Tánaiste talked about a short extension but it needs to be long enough to deal with the process. As a result of the botched situation this year, there is now huge pressure to allocate tutors, so this cannot happen again. I want to raise an additional issue relating to this year. My understanding is the scheme has also changed, in that there is now only one option, where all the pupils take either the school-based or home-based programme. That locks medically vulnerable children out of the system. If the school decides on a school-based programme, you cannot have a home-based programme for that medically vulnerable child. I spoke to a parent of a child who is 13 years of age and who has missed a lot of school because of their medical vulnerability. They have care every night from the HSE, which proves their medical vulnerability. As the portal only allows you to do one or the other, they cannot avail of the school-based programme. They need a home-based programme. I ask the Tánaiste, in examining this issue, to also examine that issue and make sure that medically vulnerable students are not denied the option, which until now was always the case, to avail of either-or.

Sentiment score: 0.05