Every Member of this House knows that families are at breaking point, struggling to access supports for children with additional needs. Behind every policy discussion are parents trying to hold things together in a system that is not holding them. This motion is right: the State is failing children with additional educational needs and their families. An upsetting example is how families are treated when they apply for the domiciliary care allowance. Picture a mother at the kitchen table late at night filling in the application. She describes her real life: constant supervision, safety concerns, emotional regulation and the exhaustion of caring every hour day in, day out. She sets this out hoping it will be recognised. Instead, a decision is made at a desk, and the conclusion is reached that the child does not have the needs substantial and in excess of what is expected. In that moment, families are left with their reality and their reality is denied. Families are experiencing the lack of need and a system that does not translate into what they need - recognition. They feel rejection. They feel abandonment. In Donegal and across the north west, families are carrying even more due to the CDNT network's delayed services, yet this is not reflected in the decisions. Families are carrying everything, and they are being told it is not enough. This is injustice. We need to reform the domiciliary care allowance so the lived experience is properly weighed, decisions reflect the real care burden and families are not forced into costly legal battles they cannot afford.

Sentiment score: -0.08