Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute in support of the counter-motion. All Members of the House will acknowledge that many significant advances have been made in recent years, improving the lives of children with special needs and the lives of their families. There have been significant developments in special education since 1998 involving enhanced levels of provision, as well as new structural and legislative frameworks for the delivery of services to pupils with special educational needs. I emphasise that children with special educational needs will continue to receive an education appropriate to their needs.

While the Opposition may be critical of the decision to pause the full implementation of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act at this point, the Government has re-stated its support for this process through its commitment in the renewed programme for Government. I make it clear, however, that the Government's commitment to special needs education provision is not constrained within the provisions of that Act. Services continue to be provided to children on a non-statutory basis. Therefore, although a number of provisions of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act remain to be formally commenced, appropriate education services are provided as a central element in the Government's commitment to supporting children with special educational needs.

This support is provided across a wide spectrum of initiatives within the education sector. At school level, in addition to the teachers provided in the classroom, significant additional supports are also provided to enable schools to cater for the needs of students with special educational needs. Such supports include resource teaching support, special needs assistant support, special transport arrangements, enhanced capitation and funding for the purchase of specialised equipment.

In recognition of the importance of co-ordinating disability services across departmental and agency lines, the Government established the Office of the Minister for Disability and Mental Health, headed up by the Minister of State, Deputy John Moloney. A cross-sectoral group has been established representative of senior officials in the education and health sectors to deal with cross-cutting issues. This co-ordinated working will ensure delivery of the most effective response for children living with disability and special educational needs on a daily basis. I welcome this initiative.

I know parents of children with special education needs welcome the availability of education placement options and that they appreciate the supports now available to support a placement in a mainstream class where this is in line with the child's ability. Their child can also either attend a special class or a special school if this is more appropriate to their needs. This has been made possible by a massive increase in investment, with €1 billion being provided for special education this year, and by a huge expansion in the number of staff working solely with children with special needs, with more than 20,000 adults whose sole role is to support children with special educational needs.

Further improvements have also taken place.

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