I thank you for allowing me raise this difficult matter in which the particular family and I have been involved since last September. I am raising it here out of a deep sense of frustration because I have come to the end of the line.
I was approached last September by the parents of a six year old boy in Toomevara. I will refer to the young boy as Mark, details about whom the Minister is aware have been supplied. Mark suffers from cerebral palsy and is physically and mentally handicapped. He had been attending a special pre-school in Nenagh for children with special needs which is run on an entirely voluntary basis. It is a wonderful school and he had been doing extremely well. His parents, who have five other children, were happy with the way things were going and were particularly happy that he had been accepted into St. Anne's in Roscrea, an excellent institution which cares for children with physical and mental handicap on both a day care and residential basis.
In late August his parents were told there was a problem in that he could not use the special transport provided by the school. He has not attended school since then. This six year old child is at home because he is unable to get to school. It is a most extraordinary situation. My colleague, Deputy O'Shea, spokesperson for the Labour Party, pursued the matter at departmental level with the school. Progress has not been made from the point of view that I have a letter from the school which states that this matter is intractable.
It seems extraordinary in this day and age that this child has been out of school since last September and has no prospect of getting to school. The reason is that the school bus travels within ten to 15 minutes of his house and cannot, or will not, go any further. The Department has offered the family a school grant of £1,250 towards the provision of private transport but the only private transport available in the area cannot take Mark as he needs an hydraulic lift to get his wheelchair onto the bus. As there are five other children in the family and his father works in Limerick, it is not possible for them to transport him. A voluntary arrangement was in operation in getting him to Nenagh but that is no longer available because the new school is in Roscrea.
I find it appalling that in this day and age this matter seems to be beyond solution. I am tempted to go to the media on this matter. Having been a journalist, I know what could be made of this story. I could tell you what Pat Kenny or somebody at local or national level could make of it. They could simply ask a question as to how in this day and age the Department of Education and Science cannot find a solution to a relatively simple problem. Why can the problem not be solved? I have come to the end of the road on this. I hope the Minister has a satisfactory response because, if not, I do not know where to go. I have answers to parliamentary questions and letters to the Minister and the bottom line appears to be that the problem is beyond solution. I do not accept that a six year old child is not entitled to an education as are his brothers and sisters, able bodied children and indeed other disabled children. I have raised the matter here to ensure that it gets the full attention it deserves.
