John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

Yesterday, the Minister for Education and Science clearly set out the Government's commitment to meeting the needs of children with special educational needs. The Government's track record over the past decade in providing substantial additional resources, including in particular extra teachers, special needs assistants, assistive technology funding and special school transport arrangements, to meet previously unmet needs is indisputable evidence of this commitment. The Minister also confirmed to the House that the Government's investment in special needs provisions would continue and this is demonstrated by the priority status given to investment in special education despite the current difficult economic circumstances. The Government's investment in special needs will be over €1 billion this year.

I want to outline the many significant advances which have in recent years considerably improved the lives of children with special needs and their families. We are doing what others failed to do in the past. Ten years ago, the only option for many parents of children with significant special education or care needs was to send them to special schools. Thanks to the considerable investment by the Government in the intervening years, parents now have three distinct choices. Their children can either attend mainstream classes in their local schools with additional supports as required where they have low incidence special needs, special classes in mainstream schools or special schools. Many children can, therefore, receive educations appropriate to their needs in their own communities alongside their siblings and friends.

The development of inclusive practices in education over the past decade has been particularly significant in underpinning the allocation of increased resources for special educational needs provision to mainstream and special schools. This has led to a large increase in the number of students with assessed special educational needs attending mainstream primary and post-primary schools. At present, there are over 8,000 resource and learning support teachers in our schools and over 10,000 special needs assistants to provide care support for children with special educational needs. More than €50 million is being spent on special school transport arrangements and school buildings are modified where warranted. These investments have allowed schools to support children with special educational needs in becoming part of a genuine school community. The principle of inclusion is not new and has widespread support within the education community.

For obvious reasons, the majority of parents wish to have their children educated in their own communities. This principle is also in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Salamanca statement and framework for action on special needs education in 1994, the Council of Europe declaration in Malaga in 2003 and the Council of Europe action plan in 2006. Is the Opposition suggesting that we ignore this advice and support a situation where children are not welcomed into their own school communities?

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