Síle de Valera (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I thank everybody who has contributed to the debate on these important issues. I am heartened by the acknowledgement by many Deputies that the provision of educational services for children with special educational needs has improved greatly in recent years. It is important to outline in detail the scope of these improvements.

While accepting that more can and will be done in this area, it is important to note the progress that has been made. In this respect, more than 2,600 resource teachers are now in place compared to 104 in 1998. There are now nearly 6,000 special needs assistants in our schools compared to only 300 a few years ago. In addition, there are 1,500 learning support teachers in our schools, 1,000 teachers in special schools and more than 600 teachers in special classes. In addition to the putting in place of significant numbers of additional school staff to assist children with special needs to reach their potential, legislative and structural changes have also been made which will ensure that children with special educational needs are provided in an effective and efficient manner with the required resources. In this regard, the enactment of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 provides a framework for future development of special educational needs services. The Act creates rights to assessment, individual education plans and the delivery of services on foot of those plans. It also ensures that parents have a right to be consulted and kept fully informed at all stages of the process. The Act also contains provisions regarding right of appeal where parents are dissatisfied with decisions concerning the education of their children. I am satisfied this Act provides a comprehensive approach to the future delivery of services.

The Government recognises that the traditional structures were not sufficient to deliver the services required following its decision in 1998 to introduce an automatic response to the needs of pupils with special educational needs. To overcome the structural and capacity difficulties that existed in the system, the Government established the National Council for Special Education. The council has approximately 100 staff, the vast majority of whom are special education needs organisers, SENOs, who are locally based throughout the country. The role of the SENOs is to ensure that all special educational needs in their areas are addressed in an effective manner.

In particular, the SENOs serve as a focal point of contact for parents, guardians and schools, and process applications for resources for children with special educational needs. While their work involves regular and detailed engagement with organisations such as health authorities, the Department, including administrative divisions, the inspectorate and the National Educational Psychological Service, the primary responsibility for the processing of applications for special needs resources rests with the local SENO. In this regard, all schools have been notified by the NCSE of the contact details of the SENO attached to each school. I am satisfied the establishment of the council and the work of the SENOs will ensure the delivery of special educational services.

I note the comments of some Deputies on the ongoing review of the general allocation system. The Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, has stated that she hopes to finalise this review in the coming weeks with a view to its implementation in September of this year. Action was required to improve the allocation of resources to schools and the new model will be designed to achieve this. However, resources will continue to be allocated to children in the low-instance disability categories on an individual basis and the NCSE will be responsible for these cases.

Outside the special education area the Government has also provided a substantial number of new teachers to schools over the past several years in an effort to reduce class sizes and tackle educational disadvantage. In line with the commitment from Government, class sizes will be reduced further over the coming years having regard to available resources. The Government is committed to continual ongoing improvements in respect of all aspects of the education system. I thank Members for their contribution to this debate.

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