I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy Treacy, for coming into the House to listen to what I have to say. I also thank the Department for listening to me earlier in the year when I raised this matter. I was delighted to learn over the summer that an additional bus was provided to bring special needs children from Youghal to Cork. The parents of these children welcome this development. I also thank the officials in the Department and in Bus Éireann who were extremely helpful and courteous to the parents and to me when we discussed this matter with them.
These special needs students — God's children — suffer from various types of difficulties. They are mildly, profoundly and severely mentally handicapped. It is not possible to provide the specialist education they require near their homes so they must travel long distances every day on buses. Some of these children have behavioural problems. Bullying has become an issue on the buses as the children vary in age. I was told by parents that some children are pinched, kicked and punched on the buses. It is dangerous to expect the driver to supervise these children while driving the bus. The parents are extremely anxious about this situation.
When the children arrive in school they are often in a severely distressed condition. I spoke to the principal of one of the special schools today and she told me they are extremely distressed and dishevelled when they come to school. If some of these children indulge in one type of behaviour, others will copy them. If some children start removing their clothes on the bus, others will do the same, particularly if there is no one there to supervise them. I ask the Minister to provide the relatively small amount of funding necessary to enable adult escorts to travel on the buses to supervise these children so they can arrive in their place of education in a happy and safe state.
Some of these children have medical problems, including heart conditions. I was told by the principals in some of the schools that they have care notices on the walls of the schools telling them what to do in an emergency. However, what would happen if such an emergency occurred on the bus? There is no oxygen or trained personnel on the bus. The bus driver does not have a mobile telephone to call for help. I am sure the Minister will agree that this case deserves his attention and finance. These people have no one to speak for them.
These are accidents waiting to happen. I was told of one incident where the back door of the bus was opened and one of the children fell out. Fortunately, no one was injured. An adult supervisor on the bus would have prevented that happening. The last thing I want is to come into the House to ask whichever Minister is in power why an accident was allowed to happen. Now is the time to act and to provide funding. There are people willing to do this work.
These children's constitutional rights could be affected. If their parents cannot allow them on the buses because their safety and physical and mental health will be at risk, they will have to keep them at home and they will be deprived of their right under our Constitution to specialist education. The Minister will probably tell me why escorts cannot be provided, but I implore him to make an effort to ensure this segment of our society is treated with the compassion and sympathy it deserves.
