Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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298. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views on the recent ruling in the High Court which challenged the legality of the of the devolution of the NCSE's legislative responsibility for the assessment of children with additional needs on to schools; what steps she will take to address this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2823/24]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware the outcome of the judicial review cases relating to the process that is in place to provide a report on the assessment of education needs as part of the wider HSE’s Assessment of Need process was received on the 12th January 2024. I also wish to advise the Deputy that my Department does not comment on individual Court cases.

Notwithstanding this I wish to inform the Deputy that this decision relates to the assessment of needs system established by the HSE arising from the Disability Act 2005 and specifically the requirement for an educational component in the assessment process. A separate component was established in order to comply with the assessment process from an educational perspective, and it is this element that was being challenged in the Courts.

My Department is carefully considering the detailed judgement and seeking legal advice from the Attorney General. My Department will continue to engage with the NCSE, the HSE and the full range of education stakeholders to ensure that we have a process that will stand up to scrutiny and will also need to give detailed consideration to the implications of Justice Bolger’s ruling for our schools, our services and for our students. In conclusion I wish to reassure the Deputy that this Government will continue to support children with special educational needs and work with all stakeholders to ensure an appropriate education is provided for these children.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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299. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she is aware of concerns that bodies representing schools felt they were insufficiently consulted concerning the devolution of the NCSE's legislative responsibility for the assessment of children with additional needs on to schools; what steps she is taking to address these concerns; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2824/24]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The Department consults and engages with the broad range of education stakeholders, and advocacy groups where relevant, in respect of any initiative, programme or development of significance which is relevant to schools.

In developing and implementing the education element of the AON process, there has been extensive formal and informal consultation and engagement with the education partners and with individual schools. My Department is committed to monitoring the impact of the AON process on schools and is currently engaging with a number of schools to collate feedback on how they engaged with the AON process and the extent to which they utilised available resources and supports. This engagement will ensure that any additional guidance, supports or resources required will be put in place at the earliest possible opportunity.

My Department will continue to work with the education stakeholders to ensure that schools are supported within this process.