We use Google Analytics to see which pages are read and how the site is used, so we know what to improve. This only runs if you accept. See our privacy notice for details.

Seanad
‹ An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

Support for dyslexia and dyspraxia

Summary

Senator Flynn rejected Donald Trump’s remarks about dyslexia and defended children with additional needs. Senator Scahill agreed, praised work on dyslexia and dyspraxia, and then moved on to welcome the conferring of Fr. Flanagan.

Last week, Donald Trump made a comment about people with dyslexia and said they were dumb. Over 63,000 children in Ireland have dyslexia. I want to send those children a message to say that they are not stupid or dumb. He is the leader of a country who can say what he wants to say, cause as many wars as he wants and is accountable to absolutely nobody. He is a simple man with a simple mind who judges people. He is a narrow-minded man who does not care about other individuals.

How many mothers have children with additional needs? As we stand in this Chamber, how many children are struggling in school only to hear a statement like that from Donald Trump? If I was the likes of Donald Trump, I would give myself a really good wash, get the orange off my face and act like the leader he is meant to be of the country he is meant to lead.

He should be ashamed of himself. Leaders around the world are looking at him and having talks with him because they have no choice. To be so hated and come out and turn on children and people with learning difficulties, calling people dumb, is awful. My mother, Lord have mercy on her, used to say you should never laugh at a fool because he would only get worse, but he is not a fool. If he was a fool, he would not be the President of America. He is a mad man who is full of ego and control. We need leaders around the world to stand up to him and not to be afraid of him. He is causing wars and is now looking to invade Cuba. Come on. We have to, as leaders, stand up to this man. If I was like him, honest to God, I would buy a bar of soap from the pound shop, have a good wash, just sit down with my family, be realistic and not be doing what he is doing with his silly statements and putting down the hard work of mothers and fathers. The world is hard enough without children believing they are dumb because they have a learning difference, not a learning disability.

Comment on this

I agree with Senator Flynn. Senator Tully and I, among other Members of this House, have done an awful lot of work in the education committee around dyslexia and dyspraxia, and we have met young people and seen the opportunities for them. Their disabilities, as some people might call them, are actually their superpowers and we have to give them the opportunity to realise that power.

I raise today the venerable status of Fr. Flanagan from Ballymoe in County Galway, conferred yesterday. He was born in 1886 in the diocese of Elphin, my home diocese. After completing his secondary education in Sligo, he emigrated to the United States and became a priest in the diocese of Omaha. In 1917, he founded Boys Town, a non-profit Nebraskan centre dedicated to offering children, particularly the neediest and most helpless, a new start in life. Many people know the "Boys Town" movie as well. This is another step in Fr. Flanagan being recognised as a saint.

That brings me on to the driving lesson delays we are starting to see creep up again. Last September, the Minister of State committed to a ten-week lead-in time for driving tests. At one stage in recent months, Roscommon was down to six weeks. I now see we are at eight and a half weeks, but many other counties are still well above the ten weeks. I hope it is not going to need the sainthood of Fr. Flanagan to address that issue. I hope it is something that we can address before the summer. I would love if we could have a further debate on that.

Comment on this