I wish to address the Taoiseach directly regarding the plight of those with special needs, their families and carers in Tipperary and across the country. Many of them feel forgotten and alone in coping with relentless pressure. We are all familiar with the infamous quote by Mahatma Gandhi, "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." In today's world, this greatness is calculated by recognising and hearing the pleas of the most vulnerable, especially those who struggle to have their voices heard. As a country, we have disregarded the voices of children and young adults with special needs. We have failed to hear the urgent pleas from their parents. We have glossed over the calls for additional support from their teachers.

A recent Sunday Independent article, aptly titled "Who cares?", summarised the report compiled by the special needs schools and parents group. The contents provided a harrowing glimpse into the lives of families living with a member who has special needs and included families who are struggling every day to cope.

These are families who are made to feel broken. Parents are relying on antidepressants to help them through the day. A mother says that she loves her son but pleads for support as she reluctantly admits that she is afraid of him. Mothers and fathers are neglecting their own healthcare as they cannot leave their children to go for treatment. Parents and families are crying out for help and begging for the support which they so clearly need but cannot get.

Reading this graphic report demonstrates the damaging impact that a lack of proper services is having in homes right across the country every single day. The report spelt out a catalogue of failures in the provision of basic and proper services to those who need them most. The HSE says that it is committed to prioritising the needs of children with special needs. It states that its vision is underpinned by the core values of care, compassion, trust and learning. If so, why are families of special needs children and young adults at breaking point? Where is the care and compassion?

In the context of this budget, we must come to their aid. They are desperate for help. These families shower love and attention on their special ones. They see their beauty and their unfulfilled potential. They become disillusioned and demoralised as they know that with better support structures and services, the quality of life for the child and care could be greatly enhanced.

I inform the Taoiseach that this is an issue of social justice. The workload and strain of home life means that parents are restricted, confined and left on the margins of society. I therefore ask the Taoiseach to provide significant and substantial Government intervention in the forthcoming budget,

I thank Deputy Lowry for raising this very important issue and I know all of us from our own constituency work will have met many parents of very many children who have special educational needs. Investing in special education is the right thing to do to give those children the best possible start in life and that is the objective which all of us in this Chamber share.

It is an area which has seen a great deal of Government investment in recent years and for every four euro we now spend on education, one euro is spent on special needs and special education, which was not the case in the recent past. That is a big change and is an area in which there has been a great deal of investment. To give some numbers on that, there are now almost 3,000 special classes nationwide, of which 1,300 opened only in the past four years. That gives a sense of the significant expansion in special education which has happened in the past couple of years. We also have additional special schools, including in my own constituency but, of course, as will be the case in the run-up to the budget, we will look at all of these areas and I am sure there will be an increased allocation for both education and special needs within that. The exact amounts will not be agreed until budget day.

There have been endless calls also from parents for the reintroduction of the summer programme for children with special needs. These programmes provide a continuation of daily routines which help children to feel more secure. They ensure consistency and help, which provide stability. For children with special needs, the provision of this stability cannot be overstated. A lack of routine and structure can lead to serious regression, which can impact social skills, behavioural skills and even communication skills. Summer programmes can be a lifesaver for parents. When their child maintains an active routine, care at home can be much more manageable and much less stressful.

The recruitment and retention of therapists to children's disability network teams, CDNTs, is completely vital. If schools were supported and resourced properly throughout the year, there would be far better outcomes for children and families and more schools would be able to offer summer programmes.

Finally, we also need to address the very significant shortage of respite and residential services, which compounds the challenges for these families.

I thank the Deputy. The summer programme has expanded significantly in the past three years and almost €40 million is provided now for it, which is double the funding from when this Government took up office in 2020. The summer programme for 2023 was available to all schools that wished to run it.

There was a 50% increase in the number of special schools that participated in the school programme. The main priority for this year, in the summer just gone by, was that those children with the most complex educational needs, especially in special schools, should have access to a school-based summer programme. The Department of Education has already commenced planning for 2024 in the hope that more schools will participate and I encourage them to do so.

I am also informed that the progressing disability services, PDS, roadmap for children's disabilities and the disability action plan will be published in the next few weeks. That roadmap focuses on increasing staffing and using innovation in the CDNTs. There will be new therapist grades. Therapy roles will be listed in the critical skills for people seeking work permits. There will be sponsorship of master's conversion programmes. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and the Minister, Deputy Harris, are engaging on additional CAO places for therapists in particular so that we can train more and have more coming through the system.