The Department of Education was yesterday accused by Fine Gael of withdrawing some transport services and assistance for children with language disorders who are attending specialist language classes.
Traditionally, the department has either organised transport or sanctioned a grant to parents to enable children to travel to language classes. This, however, has now been withdrawn in some instances in counties such as Laois, Westmeath and Offaly, according to Fine Gael's education spokeswoman Olwyn Enright.
However, a spokeswoman for the department last night insisted that the criteria applied to the admission of a child to a special class for specific speech and language disorders had not been altered in any way. She added that the provision of transport for such pupils was based on them meeting the eligibility criteria for admission to these classes and on the recommendations of the Special Educational Needs Organisers of the National Council for Special Education. This policy had not been changed, according to the department.
Ms Enright said, however, that several families had been in contact with her following receipt of letters indicating that the transport services would be removed from the start of the new term.
She claimed that a "seriously retrograde policy shift" in the Department of Education had resulted in the withdrawal of transport services and assistance for some children with a language disorder.
The newly revised criteria is now heavily dependent on the assessment of a child's IQ before transport will be sanctioned, according to Ms Enright. This is despite a World Health Organisation recommendation that IQ levels should be considered as a guide and not applied rigidly in cases of language disorder.
"For children with a language disorder, access to a specialist language class can be vital. These language classes are only situated in a small number of schools in each region of the country, so for the majority of children granted a place, transport to and from school is absolutely essential," she said.
Ms Enright further alleged that the changed criteria was a cost-cutting measure that bypassed the professional advice of speech and language therapists.
Without the transport service, Ms Enright said it would be impractical for parents to try and share transportation due to the distance between homes and the location of schools.
Last night a spokeswoman for the National Council for Special Education said there had been no policy change and no shift in its practices concerning school transport.