Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 20 April 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Provision of Special Needs Education: Discussion

Photo of Alan FarrellAlan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Muldoon for that response. I understand his position. I used that term for want of a better expression, but his term is superior.

My experience of some of the schools in my constituency, and I am sure this is echoed by my colleagues who are members of all parties and none, is that some schools, teachers and co-ordinators go above and beyond and they are an extraordinary credit to their professions. However, given what has been said today, at previous committees in discussions with the advocacy groups represented today and others, it is clear that implementation and the point Ms Lorraine Dempsey made in response to the question as to how much this would cost in terms of the implementation of individual education plans needs to be answered promptly. If we consider the 2006 or 2008 projected cost of fully implementing the Education for Persons with Special Education Needs Act at that time was €230 million a year and the figures now emanating from the Department of Education of €2 billion, or more than 40% of the budget, invested per annum in special education, with the best will in the world it is simply not enough. All the other questions I was going to ask have already been asked.

I said I would make a remark to which I would invite a response from the remaining witnesses or, indeed, from Dr. Muldoon. It is related to the question of patronage. With the deficit of responsibility to which Mr. Harris referred and the adversarial system that exists with parents having to fight for the rights of or for services for their children, do the witnesses as a group believe the Department of Education is either equipped or forthright enough to foresee the requirements in any given school community in terms of the provision of supports for children with additional educational needs and the overarching desire and requirement, which I believe is shared by the witnesses, that an integrated education is provided to as many pupils as is possible throughout their education? I note Ms Lorraine Dempsey is indicating she would like to respond.

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