Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

——and that he does not really want to see a return to the restrictive and unjust policies of the past where children with special needs were sidelined from mainstream education.

The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 has commenced with the establishment of the NCSE, the appointment of 82 SENOs and the establishment of local offices around the country. An appeals board has also been established. This Act was revolutionary legislation, designed not only to consign to the past Ireland's poor history with regard to services for children with special needs, but to make our services among the best in the world. The Act includes an entitlement to an educational assessment for children with special needs and to an individual educational plan. It also provides for parents to be consulted and informed at different stages of the process. They will also have recourse to the independent appeals board.

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