Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that Deputy McGrath has campaigned for a long time for, and has taken a particular interest in, children with special educational needs, including those with Down's syndrome. As he indicated, I was able to announce extra resource teachers and special needs assistants, SNAs, in the recent budget. They will be provided for schools during the coming year.

The NCSE has presented proposals on changing the model and I am sure the Deputy has had a chance to examine them. This is in line with what the Deputy said about having resources in schools when the children come in, rather than having a diagnosis. In terms of Down's syndrome that is not terribly difficult, but other conditions can be quite difficult to diagnose. In some cases, parents spend money they cannot afford in order to obtain a diagnosis. We therefore want to change the system around.

The consultation process is ongoing in this regard. I expect to get some information back on that consultation quite soon through the NCSE. The question is whether we will be able to implement the proposals for the next school year or whether it might be later. Much of that will depend on what happens in the consultation process and the effect the change would have on schools. Essentially, we want to provide for need rather than providing to schools simply on the basis of previous models that were used, particularly the medical diagnosis model.

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