Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The National Council for Special Education was required by the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 to make a report on the implementation of the Act. This report is essentially advice to the Minister on the steps the council considers should be taken to implement the Act within a five-year period from the establishment date of the council, which was in October 2005. I appreciate the work of the council in preparing this report.

The report sets out an action plan, which envisages implementation of the provisions of the Act over a four-year period. The council report acknowledged that further work, analysis and discussion, especially with the key stakeholders involved, needed to take place given the extensive and fundamental developments required to implement the Act. The council further acknowledged that it would not be appropriate for it to be prescriptive nor definitive in many areas and it has put forward its views and recommendations to stimulate the necessary discussions and debate.

As the Deputy will know, when passing the Act, the Legislature also recognised that implementation would require a considerable change agenda to develop and support inclusive schools to deliver on the provisions of the Act. For this reason, the EPSEN Act 2004 specifically refers to a five-year implementation period.

I accept the core thrust of the principles and recommendations set out by the council in its implementation report and I am anxious to implement the Act in full in the quickest time possible. However, following consideration of the issues raised in the council's implementation plan and the consultations to date with the education partners, I consider that the five-year timeframe acknowledged in the legislation is the appropriate period in which to implement the provisions of the Act.

The key to implementation of the Act is investment in the system to enable it deliver the services envisaged in the Act. Our focus must be to deliver the best outcome for the student and to ensure that schools are not overly burdened with paper and process to the detriment of the student. I am determined to put the necessary policies and programmes in place and my priority is to ensure that the education system has the necessary supports and capacity to function in accordance with the EPSEN Act.

A considerable amount of progress has been made in this regard. As I stated, a series of consultations have been held with the education partners, at which a range of issues were explored in the context of delivering the provisions of the Act and some of these groups have made further submissions in recent weeks. Arising from this process and taking account of the council's implementation report, a working group in my Department has been developing proposals for implementation of the Act and this work will be completed shortly. In this context I am satisfied that effective progress is being made to advance development of the necessary policy and supports to enable formal commencement of the remaining provisions of the Act.

See this speech in context