Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 110:

In page 14, lines 9 to 11, to delete all words from and including "the" where it firstly occurs in line 9 down to and including "needs" in line 11 and substitute "international best practice".

Currently the Bill requires the council to prepare and amend guidelines in line with policy for the time being of the Minister. This would necessitate it being done in line with best practice. No one on either side of the House would claim the policies of various Governments towards special educational needs in Ireland has been a model of best practice. In fact, occasionally it has seemed as if Ireland's policy towards those with special needs has been an example of worst practice and for other states to avoid. One of the functions of the council, as laid out in section 18 is to disseminate among schools and parents information relating to best practice, nationally and internationally, concerning the education of the child with special needs. Nowhere is the council empowered to ensure that best practice is applied. Regrettably, I have no doubt the reason for this is that the best possible practice would be considered too expensive by the Minister for Finance.

Parents and schools are being told what best practice is and then perhaps they will not receive it because bodies such as IBEC, for example, want corporation tax cut again. When the Minister opposed this amendment on Committee Stage, he asked the Opposition whether it was being suggested that the council or the Minister might not adopt best practice. My fear is that the Minister who finds himself or herself constrained by financial considerations might choose not to adopt best practice. There might also be disagreement between the Minister and the council over what constitutes international best practice. This Government seems to be fairly relaxed about some international practice being introduced over a range of issues. I have already raised this matter on Committee Stage. I am asking the Minister to acknowledge that for a variety of reasons Governments do not always adopt international best practice and to ensure that this does not happen in this vital area.

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