Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 11, to delete lines 16 and 17 and substitute the following:

1.—In this Part—

"Principal Act" means the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997;

"special educational needs" has the meaning assigned to it by section 1 of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004.".

To some degree, we have discussed amendments Nos. 10 to 12, inclusive, already in that those are the amendments which deal with the removal of the €125 threshold in medical expenses claims. As I stated previously, I welcome the Minister's decision in this respect, as it can make a significant difference to families who incur regular but perhaps small expenses and claim tax relief, the relief which the Oireachtas always intended them to claim.

I will address my remarks to the other section of the amendment, namely, the section on special educational needs which is a combination of amendments Nos. 8 and 11. Amendment No. 8 would provide a definition of special educational needs, while amendment No. 11 would provide that expenses incurred in seeking special education assistance should be tax allowable. We had a good debate on this issue on Committee Stage when it was recognised by all sides of the House that it was not ideal to provide education resources to meet special educational needs on the basis of tax relief. It is a mainstream responsibility of the Department of Education and Science and we ought to deliver this service. It was also recognised to some degree by both sides of the House that we were not anywhere close to this yet.

In many areas of special education provision parents must take the initiative. Examples include establishing schools run with small home tuition grants from the Department of Education and Science but with the bulk of the cost of the school borne directly by parents. I know of such primary schools for children on the autistic spectrum whose parents believe, rightly, that the applied behavioural analysis, ABA, approach is the best one to advance the needs of such children. While I do not have personal experience, people in my family involved in education recognise that the ABA approach makes a significant difference to some children. The Department of Education and Science has not got around to recognising it. As a result, many parents incur substantial costs in providing for what they believe is the best way for their children, in which they do not receive recognition or support from the State.

Many others who need intervention must meet the cost of special tuition through the fees they pay. In the case of many of the supports available, there are long waiting lists. The original approach of the Department of Education and Science was to provide psychological assessments. On the basis of these assessments a schedule of interventions for each child would be agreed. This proved impossible for the Department to deliver and it moved away from this individualised approach. Instead, each school must provide for certain special educational needs. This leaves many parents feeling that they do not receive the attention they require. That is the reality. The Department is slowly catching up in dealing with a need which was ignored for years. It hid behind legal interpretations. It was only following a series of legal cases that one broke through and gained recognition.

In advocating this measure I do not seek it to be a permanent or long-term feature of the tax code. However, I recognise that in other areas such as dyslexia where many associations have been established and parents come together in groups within the community to try to develop programmes which will have special resonance for children with their particular needs, these schemes must be funded entirely without recognition. We have scope to be somewhat creative in this respect. The Minister's predecessor recognised that speech and language therapy should be covered by tax relief. This has scope as an interim measure while the Department of Education and Science catches up in dealing with a major gap in the provision of special education.

It might have been getting close to closing time on the night we discussed this amendment on Committee Stage. We might have been exhausted when the Minister agreed to consider it and come back to us on Report Stage. I hope he had a chance to reflect on it and sees merit in it. If not this year, perhaps he could consider a temporary measure in conjunction with the Department of Education and Science to deal with the many parents who must incur substantial personal expense in delivering what they believe is the most appropriate educational support for their children.

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