Ms Mary Cregg:

I thank the Chairman for the opportunity to address the committee on this important issue. I want to open by stating clearly that the Department’s position is that each and every child has a right to education, to enable him or her to live a full life and to realise his or her potential. The Education Act 1998 sets out the function of the Minister to provide for education. The Act places a responsibility on boards of management to manage schools for the benefit of all students and provide an appropriate education utilising the resources made available by the State.

The position of the Department of Education and Skills is that all pupils who are enrolled in a school should attend for the full school day, unless exempted from doing so in exceptional circumstances. Reduced timetables should not be used as a behavioural management technique, or as a de facto suspension or expulsion, nor does provision exist for the use of reduced timetables for particular cohorts of pupils. Where schools apply a shorter school day in relation to a child, such arrangements should only be put in place in exceptional circumstances in order, for example, to assist a pupil to return to school, where he or she has been experiencing an absence due to a medical or mental health-related condition. Any such arrangement should be a transitionary arrangement, which is designed to assist the reintegration of a pupil to a school environment. In making such arrangements, school authorities should be mindful of the best interests of the child and of the child's right to a full school day.

Early intervention and whole school approaches are the most important strategy in managing emotional and behavioural difficulties. The Department has put in place a suite of resources, including special education teachers and special needs assistants, to support the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs or behavioural issues. The National Council for Special Education and the National Educational Psychological Service provide training and guidance to schools around the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs, including around the management of behaviours that challenge.

The Department recognises that this is a complex issue and is investing heavily in supporting children with special educational needs, with €1.9 billion being spent in 2019. Since 2011, the number of special education teachers has increased by 37% to more than 13,400. Provision for up to 15,950 special needs assistants in total has been made for 2019, an increase of 51% since 2011. The Department also provides a number of resources to DEIS schools and funds the DEIS programme to the tune of €125 million. The DEIS programme supports attendance and retention, including the home school community liaison scheme, which is part of Tusla’s integrated educational welfare service, comprising the school completion programme, and the statutory educational welfare service.

The Department of Education and Skills is aware that the Traveller representative groups have highlighted inappropriate usage of reduced timetables in the context of poor educational outcomes. The Department is committed to working with Traveller and Roma groups to achieve educational outcomes that are equal to those of the rest of the population and a number of initiatives are in place to try to address the current gap. I wish to assure the committee and those present that the Department of Education and Skills is working with Tusla educational and welfare service and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to support schools, with a view to ensuring that the use of reduced timetables is limited only to exceptional circumstances where it is necessary. To that end, we are looking at an assessment of the data which are available and are working towards producing joint guidelines, which will clarify the sort of situations referred to Ms Hanahoe here, which may be appropriate. That process will involved consultation with stakeholders. I assure the committee that we are addressing this issue in conjunction with our colleagues in Tusla.