Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for their attendance. They all provided valuable information and I thank them for that.

I want to reference something Mr. Ward said early on in his statement.

He said: "Government policy on supporting children with special educational needs aims to ensure that all children with special needs, including children with Down's syndrome, can have access to an education appropriate to their needs." How does he reconcile that statement with what we have heard today? There are clearly significant gaps in the system 15 years after the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act came into being. I struggle to see how one can reconcile that statement, however well intentioned, with the reality of what we have heard here.

There seems to be a consistent message from everybody that there are real issues in terms of training. A couple of key points were made in that regard, one of which was that there are barriers to continuous professional development. It would be helpful if Mr. Kelly would expand on that. Ms Leydon said that we should have a continuum of support model in place for training and that sounds absolutely right. What plans does the Department have to address the training deficit? It is clear that there is a training deficit that we have to address if we are to resolve this issue.

Ms Brady mentioned that schools are encouraged, rather than obligated, to provide an individual educational plan. That is not good enough as a model. If we are serious about implementing rights, surely encouragement is not enough. We still have to address the key resource issues that have been validly outlined by all of the teacher unions today but if we are to truly implement a rights based programme, it is not enough to encourage schools. There needs to be a level of obligation.

I have a couple of simple questions about July provision. When did the review begin? Was there an end date in mind when it began? Any work I have ever done has had a start date and an end date. What is the end date? Mr. Ward should be able to tell us that now. Like everyone, I want to know when the valuable July provision scheme will be expanded. I met representatives from Down Syndrome Ireland last week and there is a fear that this review will take too long and not provide the very real and necessary additional supports quickly. We all recognise there is a problem that needs to be fixed and I cannot understand why it would take so long. Will Mr. Ward tell us when the review began and what is the finish date for it? Surely that date is already in place so that at least the people leaving this meeting today will have a clear idea of when we can expect recommendations and action.