Aontú TD for Mayo, Paul Lawless, has welcomed the government’s U-turn decision to reopen the application window for July Provision for children with special needs.
Speaking today, Deputy Lawless said:
“Yesterday in the Dáil the Tánaiste said that the government were going to reopen applications for July Provision after listening to the concerns of parents who had missed the one-week window for applications. This is a very welcome decision, considering they had spent the previous week refusing to reopen it. July Provision is an excellent scheme which provides free supports and education to children with special needs for a few weeks during the summer. This very much eases the pressure parents experience during the long summer holidays”.
Deputy Lawless continued: “The application window is normally longer than it was this year, and there wasn’t enough publicity done around the application window this year, so many parents missed out on the chance to apply. The scheme offers these supports either through the school or in the child’s home, and parents must identify an SNA or teacher, or anyone registered with the teaching council who is willing to avail of the scheme to support their children. Its an excellent programme, but not enough parents are aware of it, and not enough time is allowed for applications to be submitted”.
“Often by the time a parent learns the applications are open the pool of teachers and SNAs available has dried up. This year many parents in Mayo contacted me to say they only learned about the application window after that window had been closed. I’ve been pushing hard to have applications re-opened and I’m glad this is going to be done. We still await the details on when it will reopen, but a understand the portal will reopen next week so I would urge parents to keep an eye on that online. The provision is especially necessary for children whose conditions or learning abilities may regress if they have eight or twelve weeks without any education during the summer”, concluded Lawless.
