Welfare failure is impacting 
special needs children - Hale

“I have been contacted by a number of parents who had genuine concerns that their children were not being given the transport provisions that they desperately needed in-order to make it to and from school safely,” she said. “When school transport is being provided for a child with a Statement of Special Needs, the child’s needs must be paramount when considering a collection point.

When transport staff are forced to prioritise timetables due to the constraints placed on their budgets, the Minister must be challenged on how he is managing his budget.” Mrs Hale added: “It is clear that the failure by Sinn Fein and the SDLP to implement Welfare Reform is having far wider consequences than initially anticipated.

“The £10 million per month spent on fines to Westminster because of the refusal to implement Welfare reform, is adversely impacting on our children.”