Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The matters raised by the Deputy are currently the subject of High Court proceedings against the Department. I am therefore somewhat constrained in what I can say in response to this question.

The NCSE report on supporting children with special educational needs recommended that under a proposed new allocation model, all children, including those with Down's syndrome, should be allocated additional resources in line with their level of need, rather than by disability category.

The NCSE also recommended that, in the short term, pupils with Down's syndrome in the mild general learning disability category should continue to be supported by schools' learning support allocation in the same way as other pupils with a mild GLD. The NCSE working group charged with developing proposals for the new allocation model will bring its report to me before the end of the spring and any changes to the current allocation model will be considered in the light of the recommendations of that group.

The Government did not oppose the Deputy's Private Members' Down Syndrome (Equality of Access) Bill 2013 on Second Stage. This Bill has now been referred to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection for further consideration.

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