Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The motion recognises the reality in respect of psychological services for children in education. NEPS is seriously understaffed and a high number of DEIS schools do not have access to a NEPS psychologist for the purpose of carrying out an assessment. That means a financial strain on NEPS to pay for private psychologists.

With regard to the new resource allocation model for allocating special education teaching resources, I note that, in theory, the new model is based on need and that it has been welcomed by the NCSE. However, I believe that, as with all models, there is a need for vigilance in terms of monitoring and evaluation so it does what it is supposed to be doing.

I spent 36 years in second level schools and I chaired the board of management of a primary school. I want to highlight what is going on in our schools in spite of the lack of psychologists. What I have seen over those years is a duty of care from all staff - from principals and teachers to the ancillary staff - and all of the ethos I have seen in schools I know has been an ethos of tolerance and respect, especially respect for difference.

Many different issues arise for students in schools, namely, bereavement, addiction in their homes, their own addiction issues, bullying - for the bully and the bullied - lack of confidence, low self-esteem, poverty, housing, including those living in bed and breakfasts and hotels, relationship issues, self-harm, pregnancy, eating disorders and behaviour in classrooms and on school grounds. These are just a few of the issues teachers deal with day. My teaching days were in a time when, in north Dublin, we had access to one psychologist. This means so much fell to the teachers, and they rose to it. Many schools had excellent pastoral care systems, with year heads, form teachers, pastoral care teams, chaplains and school guidance counsellors. It is important to recognise how much support and care there was over the years. Obviously, it was not perfect but so much was done by the schools in drawing up programmes and addressing those issues for their students.

Two particular programmes are On My Own Two Feet and Walk Tall. I know On My Own Two Feet better because my school was a pilot school for that programme. The modules were on self-esteem and identity, assertiveness, feelings, decision making and understanding influence. There were five books with enough material for 40 classes in each. It was adaptable according to the age profile and there was training for teachers, and there was a lot of support in the schools. I want to put out there what the schools did and what they continue to do, regardless of the NEPS situation.

The motion is comprehensive, given the work of Deputy Thomas Byrne, and the main issue is access to NEPS and related services. It is positive that there will be less of a need going forward for students to have had a formal assessment to access supports. However, that will put a huge onus on schools to decide which student gets the support and to what level. That reinforces the need to bolster staff support levels through NEPS and related services to guide and help the resource schools in allocating teaching resources in line with the new model. Many teachers also feel that they process by which to attract SNA support to a student with care needs is overly cumbersome. Is there a possibility of looking at a model whereby a SENO or NEPS psychologist could monitor and observe such students as identified by schools and then decide what support may be necessary. The current model for attracting SNAs is bureaucratic and costly. We also want to acknowledge the excellent being done by the learning resource teachers in drawing up and directing individual lesson plans for those students who need them.

We know the autism spectrum is very wide and there are some students at one end for whom an autism unit could be based in the school. However, that has to be based on need and there have to be teachers who have been specially trained with the skills in order to teach those students. There are other students with care needs and learning needs who can be accommodated within the school, and that has to be reflected in the admissions policies of all schools in order that they are welcoming of those with special needs. It is crucial that we have early intervention and that we do all we can to ensure that early intervention is in place for those students of greatest need.

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