O’Keeffe forced to defend special needs cuts

THE Government will be forced to defend one of the cuts to special needs students in the Dáil tomorrow when a vote is taken on a Fine Gael motion seeking a reprieve for the 534 affected children.

The party’s education spokesman, Brian Hayes, will propose the motion ahead of an hour-and-a-half debate tonight and a further debate tomorrow morning before the vote is taken.

Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe revealed the cut in February. It will save his department €7.5 million a year and result in 128 classes for children with mild general learning disability (MGLD) at 119 schools being axed from next September.