I thank Sinn Féin for tabling the motion. The Social Democrats have been vocal about disability rights for a long time. Before the last general election, one of our red-line issues was having a Minister for disability. That was because in this country people with disabilities are failed so badly and we want to protect their rights and deliver what they have identified that they need. The Disability Federation of Ireland is made up of several organisations and its report sets out a stark situation for anyone with a disability. One of the organisations involved is the Irish Wheelchair Association. When I came back from London to Dublin, I worked in that organisation as a personal assistant for a number of people. I had worked as a support worker for people with disabilities in London for a short time and there was a difference in how people with disabilities were treated in the two places. This Private Members' motion is on costs but I want to highlight the human cost of ignoring and sidelining people who are disabled. The Government's amendment highlights what has been spent by the Department of Education and Youth on disabled people and the additional 860 people for special education. What it fails to say is the allocation for special education teachers was made for mainstream schools in March but, unfortunately, special schools like the mild general learning disabilities schools have not been given their allocation yet, on 26 May. Why is that? The Government amendment refers to additional SNAs bringing the total to 24,900 which is welcome but that is thanks to the uproar that happened when there was a threat of cuts to SNAs. We have all these SNAs but they still do not have proper contracts, they do not know about redeployment and the workforce planning has not been published yet either. We can throw all the money we want at disabilities and stand up here and say all sorts of things but the reality on the ground is a different situation altogether, one where disabled people are ignored and failed.

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In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time on Wednesday, 27 May 2026.

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