Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this debate and thank Deputy Finian McGrath for tabling this Bill and giving us the opportunity to discuss the allocation of resource teaching supports for pupils with special educational needs, including pupils with Down's syndrome. I am taking the Bill on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, who apologises for his absence as he is abroad on Government business today. There is an ongoing court case in the High Court on the issue of resource teacher allocations for children with Down's syndrome, which obviously limits somewhat the contribution I can make to the debate.

The Bill proposes to afford statutory recognition to Down's syndrome as a low incidence disability for resource teaching allocation purposes, in all instances, irrespective of a pupil's level of general learning disability as identified in a professional assessment. It also proposes to give statutory effect to the provisions of Department of Education and Skills Circular 02/05 which provides for the level of resource teaching hours to be allocated for all low incidence disability categories. I wish to make clear that the Government does not intend to oppose the Bill on Second Stage. However, to be very clear about its approach, the Bill will be referred to the Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection where it can be considered in the context of the forthcoming proposals to establish a completely new model for the allocation of resource teaching supports in mainstream schools. Rather than fixing the existing flawed system of resource allocations in primary legislation, the Government's preferred approach is to create anew model that will be fair and equitable and enable schools to meet the educational needs of all children on the basis of their need, rather than on the basis of their specific diagnosis. The underlying principle of the Bill is that students with special educational needs, including those with Down's syndrome, should be provided with the teaching supports they require to meet their full potential. It is in support of that basic principle that the Government has decided not to oppose the Bill on Second Stage.

The National Council for Special Education provided policy advice for the Minister in May 2013 which included advice that resource teaching supports be allocated to schools on the basis of their profiled need, rather than the diagnosis of individual children. In June 2013 the Minister appointed Mr. Eamon Stack, chairman of the National Council for Special Education, to head up a working group to develop a proposal for the recommended new model. This working group has almost concluded its work and is expected to report in March. The Minister has made clear his intention to allow for detailed consultation with all educational stakeholders, including Members of the House, in advance of the implementation of any new model. In addition to its recommendation for a new resource allocation model, the NCSE also fully addressed the central issue being addressed in the Bill in its policy advice, to which I will come back in more detail.

I would like to clarify some misconceptions which have emerged in recent reports.

Pupils with Down's syndrome are fully entitled to receive additional resource teaching support in schools under the terms of the general allocation model of teaching supports. This is the case if the child's educational psychological assessment places the pupil in the high-incidence disability category, which covers mild and mild to borderline intellectual disability. Pupils who are assessed as being within the low-incidence category of special need receive support through an allocation of additional teaching resource hours to the school by the NCSE. This category includes some children who have an assessed syndrome, including Down's syndrome, as well as children who have other low-incidence disabilities such as a moderate general learning disability, a hearing impairment or a speech and language disorder. Down's syndrome has not been designated as a high incidence or low incidence disability. Children with Down's syndrome may qualify for teaching support under high or low incidence provision, based on the severity of their general learning disability.

It is sometimes stated publicly in media comment or debate that pupils with Down's syndrome who are assessed as being in the mild general learning difficulty range do not receive or qualify for resource teaching support in schools. This is not the case. All primary schools receive allocations of resource teaching hours as part of their general allocation model teaching allocations to provide resource teaching and learning support to pupils who have been assessed as having mild general learning difficulties. Post-primary schools also receive general allocations to support pupils with mild learning needs. Pupils with Down's syndrome in the mild range receive additional teaching support from a school's general allocation in common with all other pupils in the mild range. Regardless of the manner in which resource teaching support is allocated to schools, resource teaching and learning support is available for all pupils with Down's syndrome in the same manner as for other children with assessed syndromes.

It should be noted that there is no qualitative difference between the resource teaching hours allocated to pupils under the general allocation model and those allocated by the NCSE on the basis of a low-incidence disability. Schools have the capacity to utilise and manage their teaching resources to best provide for the teaching needs of qualifying children. Each school uses its professional judgment to decide how the additional resource teaching time is used to support the pupils in the school and ensure all their individual needs are met. Contrary to what has been suggested in the past, it is not the case that pupils cannot receive individual teaching support under the general allocation model. Additional teaching time may be provided to pupils on an individual basis or in pairs or small groups as the school considers appropriate.

People often ask what the Department of Education and Skills has done to address these issues. The question of whether Down's syndrome should be classified as a low-incidence disability in all instances was raised and considered when the Department carried out a review of the general allocation model. That review recommended that research be undertaken to establish whether there is a sound and equitable basis for reclassifying Down's syndrome as a low-incidence disability. The Department also received a submission from Down Syndrome Ireland regarding this matter.

When the Minister for Education and Skills is revising or reviewing special educational supports, he is obliged to have regard to the advice and recommendations of the experts in relation to these matters. Under the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004, the NCSE has a formal role in advising the Minister on matters that relate to the education of children with disabilities. In 2012, the Minister asked the NCSE to provide comprehensive policy advice on how best to support students with special educational needs in schools. As part of the preparation of this policy advice, the NCSE was asked to consider the method of delivery of resources and the question of whether Down's syndrome should be reclassified as a low-incidence disability in all instances, regardless of assessed cognitive ability. In developing this policy advice, the NCSE considered the submission made by Down Syndrome Ireland and consulted that body in developing its policy advice.

As I mentioned earlier, the NCSE report on supporting children with special educational needs in schools has now been published and is available on the Department's website. The policy advice recommends that "a new model should be developed for the allocation of additional teaching resources to mainstream schools which is based on the profiled need of each school, without the need for a diagnosis of disability". The report also states that "if the Minister were to agree in principle to the development of the alternative model proposed, the NCSE will then proceed to the next phase and establish a working group to develop it". This working group has been established and its work is almost complete. The NCSE has also recommended that, in the short term, pupils with Down's syndrome who are in the mild general learning difficulty category should continue to be supported by schools' general allocation of resource teaching support in the same way as other pupils with a mild general learning difficulty. It has not been recommended that an exception should be made for children with Down's syndrome who are in the mild general learning difficulty range. However, the NCSE report expresses confidence that the introduction of a new allocation model will address the needs of all children with mild general learning disabilities, including children with Down's syndrome, who have additional difficulties and who can be supported according to their level of need in line with their learning plan process. In the meantime, the NCSE has advised that schools can differentiate the level of learning support granted to ensure available resources are used to support children in line with their needs.

This Government has been fully committed to protecting the level of investment being made to support children with special educational needs, at a time when there has been a requirement to make expenditure reductions in a range of areas. This area of spending has been prioritised above all other areas by this Government, despite the enormous pressures on all areas of public spending. There are over 10,700 additional teachers in schools supporting children with special educational needs. This is more than at any previous time. The number of comparable posts was 10,305 in the 2012-13 school year and 9,950 in the 2011-12 school year. These 10,700 additional teachers include the 5,000 permanent learning support and resource posts that have been allocated to all schools across the system.

Some 5,730 resource teaching posts have been allocated to schools by the NCSE for the 2013-14 school year to support pupils with low-incidence special educational needs. This should be compared to the NCSE's allocations of 5,265 posts in the previous year and of 5,175 posts in 2010. Provision has been made in the current school year to meet growing demand from schools for low-incidence special educational needs support. Some 480 additional new resource teaching posts have been made available to maintain allocations at their current rate. The Government has been increasing the overall number of resource teaching posts available in recent years. The new allocation model will, in effect, replace the provisions of the existing special education circular. The intention of the new model is that it will afford greater autonomy to schools to allocate resources to each child based on his or her individual needs, as opposed to being based on a specific disability categorisation. The Minister, Deputy Quinn, and I look forward to participating further in the debate on this issue with the members of the Oireachtas committee.

I thank again Deputy Finian McGrath for bringing the Bill to the House.

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