The existence of any school place is not the same as the existence of an appropriate placement. For autistic pupils, placements must be based on assessment of need, sensory profile, communication supports and the capacity of the receiving setting to provide a structured, autism-informed environment. Placing a child in an unsuitable setting can, as the Minister will know, lead to severe anxiety, regression in learning and school refusal. I have had many pieces of correspondence over the past week or so when people knew this motion was being put forward. I thank Deputies O'Rourke and Ní Raghallaigh for bringing this motion forward. I want to read out what I received from one teacher. She states: "As a teacher, a principal and a parent of a child with additional learning needs, Ireland has gone backwards when it comes to inclusive educaiton in schools. The Government brandishes the words around but inclusion without resources is only neglect. Who usually receives the brunt of the disillusionment from parents of these students? Us teachers. Twenty years ago, a child with additional needs was allocated resource teacher hours. They were allocated SNA hours, given ICT, etc. Now everything is given under a general allocation model. The scramble to create a cluster takes away the energy we have to condemn the miserable few hours we are presented with. SNA allocations have not changed for the next year. However, if like us you are screaming and begging for an increase in hours, you're told no can do. Will we still be begging this time next year? I want you to answer that question. I absolutely love teaching. I love the fun interactions with students in my class. I love watching children in my care progress even if that is slowly. I love the light bulb moments. I love the enthusiasm, the creativity. I love teaching but teaching has become more and more frustrating lately. We are implementing a brand-new curriculum starting next September. The curriculum has become more vast and diverse. Trying to share so much knowledge is not going to work especially when you add a varied class of students in the mix. It is nigh impossible to cater for everyone single-handedly, especially in multilevel classrooms. We try our best. I ask the Ministers to please listen to that teacher and parent.

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