Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Government and in support of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, I am pleased to speak about our substantial investment in the area of special educational needs and our commitment to the National Educational Psychological Service. Deputy Thomas Byrne will be aware that County Meath has received over €300 million in funding in the past few years to develop its educational services. That has been very well received.

I will outline the reality of the situation in respect of these elements and discuss the real progress that has been, and is being, made in the education system, particularly in support of those with special educational needs.

We are emerging from a period of the most severe economic difficulty and stringency when hard decisions had to be taken with regard to all aspects of public expenditure. It must be acknowledged that the Government - this also applies to the Fine Gael-led Government which preceded it - has performed admirably in its determination to protect investment in the education system, particularly for those students most in need of support. I am pleased to support the Government's counter motion in this context, bringing as it does an air of reality to what is a positive and dynamic situation.

The Action Plan for Education 2016 to 2019 articulates the ambition, values and goals that are at the basis of the high-level work programme of the Department of Education and Skills, its agencies and the education and training sector. This blueprint demonstrates clearly the high priority being afforded to the areas of mental health and well-being and special educational needs, with a renewed focus on putting appropriate resources in place to address those most at risk of disadvantage. The highlighting of mental health and well-being has particular resonance for me in my current role as Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for mental health. The plan represents a more holistic and structured approach than ever before in the school system. The approach in schools for the promotion of well-being and positive mental health focuses on the entire school community, including groups and individual young people with identified needs. This spans the curriculum, whole school ethos, policy of teaching, learning and assessment, student support and pastoral care, guidance counselling and the provision of professional development of teachers, which is critically important. All school staff share the responsibility for general student well-being.

The services provided by the NEPS play a pivotal role in supporting well-being, special education and social inclusion initiatives in primary and post primary schools. Several Deputies raised issues with regard to access to CAMHS, but the first step will always be to try to address the young person's needs at a primary level. CAMHS offers services to those with more severe mental health issues like psychosis, severe depression and eating disorders. Where possible, we must try to work with young people at that primary level.

I welcome the Minister's assurance that recruitment is under way to fill 11 existing vacancies and to appoint another ten psychologists as part of the new DEIS plan which was announced in February. This means that for the next school year the staffing complement in NEPS will be at its highest level ever. I am particularly pleased that the important role of the NEPS has been recognised in the programme for Government with the commitment to increase the number of psychologists by 65 to an unprecedented number of 238 posts.

Another significant undertaking in the Action Plan for Education is the rolling out of a new model for the allocation of teaching resources for children with special educational needs. The basic aim of the model is to deliver better outcomes for children with special educational needs. Officials from the Department of Education and Skills, with their colleagues in the NCSE, engaged in very extensive consultations with school management bodies and teacher representative bodies throughout the development of the new model. Recently, circulars on the implementation of the new model and individual allocation letters have been issued to schools. In addition, extensive guidance has been prepared which will support schools in the delivery of supports to children with special educational needs. Representatives of the Department are now visiting towns throughout the country to speak to school principals and leaders so that any remaining concerns can be addressed. I welcome the extensive engagement the Department has facilitated which will ensure that schools' concerns are addressed. It is very important that people feel that they have been part of the process right to the end.

The allocations given to schools are based on profiles of each school and are tailored to provide enough resources to ensure all children with special educational needs in a school, including those who are currently pupils and those who have yet to enrol, can access the supports they need. In the future, children who need supports will not have to wait for a diagnosis, as was the position in the past. The new model will give greater autonomy to schools to allocate or deploy resources to pupils in line with their needs, regardless of their diagnosis. The provision of an additional 900 special education teaching posts for 2017 is extremely welcome. This comes on top of an increase of 41% in the number of resource teachers allocated to schools since 2011.

On introduction of the new model, over 1,000 schools will receive additional allocations but no school will lose supports. In addition, no allocation made by the NCSE to schools to support pupils in the past will be removed from schools as long as those pupils remain in the school. Under the new model, for students who start school from September 2017 with a specific diagnosis, either in junior infants or transferring from another school, the resources they need will already be in the school. The introduction of this new model has followed extensive consultation, analysis and a pilot process. It has been widely welcomed across the school sector, as well as by parents and disability representatives.

Progress in developing special classes for children with autism has been significant in recent years. There are 525 primary autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes at primary level and 237 post-primary ASD classes. The number of special class placements available generally reflects the distribution of students with autism across school settings. The development of special class provision in post-primary settings usually lags a number of years behind the growth of special class provision at primary level for obvious demographic reasons. That said, in the past three years the number of special classes at post-primary level has doubled.

The NCSE and the Department of Education and Skills are working with schools to open up classes to meet demand but it is accepted that some difficulties remain, particularly at post-primary level. In many cases, a refusal to open special classes arises because a school has either no space, is currently full, is awaiting a new building or the renovation of existing buildings or rooms, or because it simply cannot access suitably-trained teachers. Whether the difficulties are infrastructural or related to the availability of suitably trained teachers or SNAs, clearly it is preferable that the Department would work with the school to ensure that such difficulties are addressed. Schools should not be expected to open classes in the absence of suitable accommodation or staff to manage these facilities.

It is difficult to conclude that problems in this area should be remediated by introducing a statutory provision to compel schools to open special classes. I do not think that is the way to go. I cannot imagine that parents or students would be happy in such a scenario. If I had children, I certainly would not consider enrolling them in a school where such a direction had been issued to a school without its agreement. It would be far preferable for schools to voluntarily open classes on request and to ensure that all necessary measures are put in place so that infrastructural or staffing issues are fully and appropriately addressed in a timely manner.

I strongly support my colleague, Deputy Richard Bruton, and the Government's motion on this issue. Since 2011 significant investment has been made in the area of special educational needs. This year over €1.6 billion is committed to this area, an increase of €400 million on the 2011 figure, when the previous Government took office. This represents close to 20% of the overall education and training budget. The delivery of the commitment in A Programme for a Partnership Government to appoint additional educational psychologists is already under way and the Minister has made a commitment to ensure that this happens as quickly as possible. I am also working closely with the Minister and his officials to ensure we are as responsive as possible in addressing the needs of students experiencing mental health difficulties and in supporting the well-being of all, including teachers, parents and all in the community. I commend the motion to the House.

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