Sir, – There are children with special educational needs due to start school this coming September who remain without a school placement that is appropriate for their needs.
There is no legal or moral justification for this. The right to education cognisant of the individual needs of a child is enshrined in the Constitution and bolstered by statute and regulations.
The law surrounding this is indisputable; there is no ambiguity regarding the existence of this right.
However, the Department of Education regularly fobs off its duty to provide appropriate educational placements, citing lack of resources. This has led to a reality where there are simply not enough school placements for children with special needs. These children are routinely placed in precarious situations where they are either forced to miss out on time in school essential to their development or they have no choice but to litigate against the State in the pursuit of enforcing a right that the rest of the young population have little or no difficulty in enjoying.
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The Government has consistently faced criticism regarding its failure to vindicate the rights of people with disabilities from a number of international human rights watchdog groups, such as Human Rights Watch.
It is nothing other than shameful that this failure exists, but made all the more grotesque by the fact that it extends to children without any form of justification other than financial, which is difficult to digest.
The problem and solution are writ large: equal opportunity and respect ought not be limited to those who are neurotypical and able bodied, but these are worthless ideals without proper and meaningful resourcing from the State.
In no uncertain terms, significant additional funding is needed for the opening of more special needs schools and classes to ensure that these children are able to reach their full potential like any other child in this country. – Yours, etc,
NIAMH OSBORNE,
Annagassan,
Co Louth.