As an elected representative, I can think of nothing more frustrating than every single year dealing with parents and families desperately trying to get what most of us take for granted, an adequate school place for their children. Every single year Ministers come to his House to tell us they are making changes and it will be better next year, but every single year, if anything, the situation gets worse. Every spring we are dealing with questions coming from not only parents and families, but also schools in many instances to get a clear image in terms of how many children are going to be catered for in each school, in each class, in each special school the following September. Invariably after all the turmoil and all the interactions, every September some children will be left behind. Every September and October we are still chasing either to get the SNA support or to get a place in the class that is appropriate to the needs of the children. It just has to stop and cannot go on. We have heard enough of the rhetoric. I am sick of the press statements. I am absolutely sick to my hind teeth of the responses I get from the Department when I make representations on behalf of individual students, real children with real needs, and I get this bland response telling me about the extra SNA resources, the extra school places and whatever but no specific detail that the family needs. It has to change. There has to be a complete change of approach within the Department and within the NCSE. We need to realise we are talking about human beings here. They are asking for what most of us take for granted, a place in the school that is appropriate to the needs of their children. I am asking the Government to support this motion but, more importantly, I am asking it to implement the provisions within it. We need to ensure that children get the education that they deserve and that they are entitled to.

Sentiment score: 0.05