Debate contribution: Post-19 Special Educational Needs Support

Debate contribution by Mr Gerry Carroll on 18 May 2026.

MLA

Mr Gerry Carroll

Party at the time

People Before Profit Alliance

Date

18 May 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Post-19 Special Educational Needs Support

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5548945

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I declare an interest as I have a family member who works with schoolchildren with SEN. I also pay tribute, as others have, to Alma and Caleb's cause. It is good to see the Gallery full of the campaigners and activists who have led the fight for young people in our communities, even though responsibility for doing so should not have fallen on their shoulders. They have to fight because, when people with disabilities reach the age of 19, they see SEN services being withdrawn and services completely ending. That is completely unfair, to put it mildly. As I said, for young people who turn 19, those services completely disappear. Imagine if we said to people with a physical disability or someone on personal independence payment (PIP) or disability living allowance (DLA) that, when they reach an arbitrary age, their services, support and financial payment would stop. We would say that that is completely unacceptable and should not be the case, but somehow it is deemed to be the acceptable state of play for children and young people with SEN when they reach the age of 19. I pay tribute to all the parents and carers, especially the ones in my own constituency. Just today, I was speaking to Katrina, who lives and works in my constituency. She told me that, when young people turn 19, those services just completely disappear. There is no respite provided, and she says that nobody wants to know. That is the case for parents and carers right across the board. Parents and carers pick up the slack and look after their children or family members because the state and the Executive have failed, not just this year but, as people have said, for decades and refuse to step in to provide those services. Most of that work usually falls on the shoulders of women. It is usually women who provide the labour — unpaid labour — because they love their sons, their daughters, their family members, but it should not be like that. We do not talk about the hundreds of millions of pounds that they are saving the state because the state refuses to step in, in this case and in many other areas. It is always people outside this Building who make politicians move, often dragging them kicking and screaming. My understanding is that the demands of Caleb's cause can be rectified and met, as can the wider issue, with the passing of a simple amendment, so the obvious question to the Ulster Unionist Party is this: why have you not dragged your Minister here and tabled that amendment? If you are the tough, new leader who is getting the party into shape, you should be saying to the Health Minister, "Table that amendment". It is completely unacceptable that that has not been put in place.

Thank you. I totally agree. I am sure that most people in the Gallery also agree. In the last mandate, I sat here until 2.00 am and 3.00 am, passing legislation on bars and licensing. I was happy to do that: it was part of my job. I would have been content — and I am sure that others would have been — to sit in here until 1.00 am or 2.00 am to pass an amendment on this matter. However, on some days, we finish here at 4.00 pm or 5.00 pm, and there is a lack of legislation coming through. That issue needs to be raised as well. We had a protest earlier today, lamenting the inaction on the 'good jobs' trade union legislation. If the people in this Building cannot pass legislation on trade unions and workers' rights or on supporting people with additional needs when they reach the age of 19, many people will ask what the point of this Building is. What is the point of having a Stormont Administration if they can get nothing through except higher rates for individuals? I support the motion.

664 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:38 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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