Éamon Ó Cuív urges 'tunnel' talks to protect vulnerable pupils

Aadha, We aadhaar meh chuaistail gyn urthu tarnoan a neu, gud gwrthar heibrocheim PPP ag ad ahastin thar faaig agos ni arnih han gu drur sae siam fhwysif intna gud guloordaeinna. I'm wondering whether I'm not going to talk to you. I'm not going to talk to you. I'm not going to talk to you. Listening to the debate here this evening, I'm wondering whether, and I'm a person who really believes in dial debates, and the councillor will know that, and trashing things out, but I believe that this is a case where we would actually be better implied by, as they say in the European jargon, everybody being in the tunnel, everybody keeping away from the media, all the players, the teachers, the parents, the department, and keeping one thing in mind. And that is that there are hugely deserving and vulnerable children out there that need school. That our total focus has to be on one thing. How do we safely, by agreement, get education for those in special schools and in special classes in particular? You know, Minister, I've been on to you several times on behalf of children in Galway, in fact continuously, with a big, huge focus on those who are most vulnerable, most dependent, who most require to be in school because distance learning is something that's totally irrelevant to them. And my plea this evening would be to everybody now, all the parties, to go into the tunnel and to sit down and see how can this be worked out in the interest of those probably least well able to speak for themselves, and that's the children. And I think if we could achieve that, we would have done a great day's work for the children, the vulnerable children of Ireland. This isn't a time to apportion blame or to say what happened. We are, as they say in the jargon, where we are. The measure of us will be how we go forward from here. How we all cooperate. And that means everybody. Co-operate to try to get from here to where we all know we want to go and where everybody has professed that they want to go. And that we leave the arguments to another day of what happened or how we got to where we are. I trust in the bona fide of everybody and I hope that that tunnel will be got, that you'll all go into the tunnel and that we'll resolve what, in my view, is a very, very urgent issue for very, very, very special people. Well, I'd like to thank you for your considered and insightful contribution here this evening and indeed your measured contribution. I do believe you are 100% correct and indeed it has been articulated also by Deputy O'Donnell that there is only one agenda here and it is to find a way forward for all of our children, in this instance, in particular children with additional needs. and I do believe, I absolutely believe that there is a shared objective and I say that with the grace of respect to all of the deputies here, I do believe it is your shared objective also as indeed I believe it is the shared objective of the partners in education and I include there all of the voices that you have mentioned, the teaching unions, the unions representing the SNAs, the unions representing the managerial bodies, everyone is a collective and the Deputy references, you know, what exactly are we going to do now? Well, what we are doing is maintaining the fact that priority must be given to children with additional needs, but obviously as the Deputy has raised a reference to public health, absolutely everything in the best interest of everyone who is part of the school community, those who are working in the school community and the children themselves has always been underpinned by the advice of public health. I and the Department of Education have never deviated from public health advice. We will not deviate from public health advice now and whatever they ask us to do in terms of public health advice, in the best interest of everybody who works in the education sector and the children, we will do. So we are once again in discussion with everyone concerned and we will continue to discuss, to engage, to encourage, all of us working collectively to find a suitable resolution here and I know we are all committed to doing that. Thank you, Minister. Thank you.