Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

There is a lack of clarity as to the effect of the proposed changes. Speaking in the Seanad in February, the Minister did not provide significant clarification or comfort about the practical effects the changes would have on mainstream and special needs schools. The change appears to prevent the Department of Education and Skills from providing support services currently provided by the Health Service Executive. It is not clear what are the services in question or how pupils and schools will be affected.

The section appears to be at odds with section 13 of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004. If the section is not amended, it will become a matter for the National Council for Special Education to make requests of the HSE, under section 39(1) of the 2004 Act, to assist with implementation of particular individual education plans and provision of services which the Department does not provide but which are necessary for such implementation. The problem is that section 39(3)(c) of the EPSEN Act allows the HSE to refuse such a request on the basis of insufficient resources. The Act does not impose a positive obligation on it to provide quasi-educational services for children. Most of the absolute requirements on the executive to act in certain cases are set out in the Child Care Act 1991 and refer to children at risk of abuse or neglect. For this reason, I ask the Minister to provide clarity on this matter.

Given the current shortage of resources, facilitating requests by the National Council for Special Education will present major difficulties for the HSE in many cases. This gap in the legislation needs to be filled as people are concerned the changes may have a negative impact on children with special educational needs. Deputies know the hoops families must jump through to secure additional services for such children.

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