Ms Margaret Turley:

Inclusion Ireland welcomes the opportunity to address the committee. When the EPSEN Act was passed in 2004 as a central pillar of the national disability strategy it was seen as groundbreaking in putting inclusive education on a statutory footing and providing for children to have their education needs assessed and met. The EPSEN Act promises not only educational equality but also a legal obligation to deliver that education in mainstream settings, where possible. Seventeen years after the Act was passed, the main pieces of the Act that benefit disabled children have yet to be commenced. The sections of the EPSEN Act not commenced include the parts that would give children a right an educational assessment of their needs; the development of an IEP based upon this assessment; the delivery of the education supports detailed in the plan; and an independent appeal process. In short, this means that a child with a special educational need does not have a legal right to an assessment of that need or to have such an identified need addressed through an IEP. Parents have no legal right to have an input into the IEP. Because the Act has not been implemented, children's rights are at the whim of policymakers, changes in Government, funding priorities and other factors.

Recent Governments have only committed to implementing EPSEN on a "non-statutory footing". Of all changes to education supports in recent years, there has been no move to give children a right to assessments and IEPs under the Act.

Section 2 of the EPSEN Act places inclusive education on a statutory footing but allows for exceptions to an inclusive education provision. We also need to be mindful of the rights of children under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, which has been ratified by Ireland since section 2 was commenced. The UNCRPD calls for inclusive education to be provided for without exception, putting section 2 at odds with the convention.

For Ireland to move towards a fully inclusive education system where children can attend their local school with the appropriate supports, the Government needs a longer term plan that considers the following. There must be a review and commencement of the EPSEN Act; the Government should put forward a multi-annual, fully costed plan for moving towards an inclusive education model of education; and the Government should invest in teaching and special needs assistant resources, with class sizes needing to get below 20 pupils at a minimum. We must ensure initial teacher training has a more robust inclusive education component and that all current teachers without continuous professional development in special education are freed to complete mandatory training on this subject. Schools must be supported by fully resourced mental health and disability teams and they should be fully accessible physically, include sensory spaces and be designed with sensory processing in mind. We must engage all stakeholders in the process of developing an inclusive model to include families, educators, therapists and pupils, etc. A campaign should also be launched to address many of the negative attitudes that exist around disability in Ireland, as a sizeable minority of the population does not see mainstream schools as the place for disabled children.