Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister will be aware, I put forward a series of amendments on Committee Stage to allow the National Council for Special Education to compel a school to open an ASD unit. This amendment is not as strong as what I proposed but I welcome the move in the right direction. I would agree with other Deputies who have spoken.

The mechanism the Minister is adopting is vague and convoluted.

On the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, compiling a report if there is insufficient capacity in an area, will the Minister clarify what constitutes insufficient capacity? Is there a minimum number? Is it when one student, two or three students present to the school? I would like to be clear on the number as I do not believe the child is at the heart of the Bill.

I respectfully suggest another issue that needs to be addressed within the inspectorate of the Department of Education and Skills and which is not helping at all. In management, leadership and learning, MLL, evaluations in a DEIS school I have heard that inspectors pose a question to the staff about whether the school has ever asked itself why it has so many students with special educational needs. In turn, the inspectors are asked if they pose this question to other schools but rephrased as, "Has your school ever asked itself why it does not have children with special educational needs?" I suggest that, for the purposes of equality and fairness, this question be added to the MLL evaluation.

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