Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I join with others in welcoming the fact that between last week and this week, schools have reopened since their forced closure five and a half months ago. All of us hope that they will remain open in what are challenging times for teachers, auxiliary staff and pupils. I commend all of the staff involved in getting schools ready at very short notice in what are exceptionally difficult and unprecedented circumstances. We all want our schools functioning properly so that our children and young people get back to some sort of normality and receive the best education possible during the Covid crisis.

The past five and a half months have been very difficult for all sections of our society and our young people have been particularly badly affected. The forced isolation from their extended family and friends has not only impacted on their education but curtailed their personal development and social interaction. The Covid lockdown has had an even greater and disproportionate impact on young people with special educational needs. Children and young people with additional needs have reported emotional, social, physical and behavioural difficulties. The absence of play and the inability to socialise with friends has had a seriously negative impact on their lives. The lack of routine as a result of school closures has adversely affected many, not least those with ASD and their parents, who have had to shoulder the considerable burden of home schooling and remote learning. The results of surveys carried out during the lockdown indicate significant regression in children's behaviour and social skills with many reporting increased levels of anxiety and agitation and more challenging behaviours for some. It has been additionally difficult for children with more complex needs to understand and comprehend why restrictions were required in the first place and what a pandemic means.

In addition to the closure of schools, other services have also ceased or operated at a much reduced capacity. I particularly refer to therapeutic services such as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and so on, all of which have been stopped or only offered on a limited basis. I am told the reason for this is staff have been redeployed to testing and contact tracing, which might have been justified at the outset of this crisis when no one knew what was in store for the country or how everything would pan out. I do not understand why these particular staff remain redeployed. These are highly qualified staff tasked with taking care of people who have additional and complex needs. They provide vital services that are being denied to the children who badly need them and without which their anxiety levels greatly increase, especially now as schools reopen. Children with special educational needs are returning to school after being denied essential help for five and a half months. These services must be reinstated immediately. Such children transitioning from preschool to primary, primary to secondary, or secondary to a post-leaving certificate course or third level need the support of therapies. Normally preparatory courses are carried out with the young people transitioning from one school to the next. They are offered supports and their parents given advice on how to support their child. A transitional report is then prepared for the new school outlining the needs of the student in order that they are provided with the supports to manage their new environment.

For example, this could be as simple as identifying that a student is unable to cope with crowds and a locker being assigned at the end of a row rather than in the middle, where people tend to congregate. It could also be colour coding the timetable to assist the student or better orienting the school rota. To my knowledge, the report was not done this year, which is worrying, as such preparation in these most difficult of times is more vital than ever.

I am also very concerned about the lack of information pertaining to students with special educational needs in the roadmap for reopening schools. There was a half a page that gave advice that did not differ in any way to advice given to other students. There should have been links to NEPS, Enable Ireland, child development teams and other organisations that would normally have an input into helping young people with special educational needs in returning to school.

Concerned parents have contacted me about SNAs being shared between classes. Most students are only allocated access to an SNA, which results in those staff having to travel between classes, which has raised understandable concerns that such an arrangement may result in the spread of Covid-19. This sort of contact should be limited so there must be an immediate increase in the number of SNAs. It is also vital that special education teachers in mainstream schools are not used to cover classes of teachers absent due to Covid-19 or any other reason. Special education hours must be ring-fenced for special education and the Department must take decisive action against any principal who even attempts to reallocate staff in this way.

Due to the lack of support outside school, children who are finding it difficult to return to the school environment must now be given the support to do so, or, if necessary, they should be given access to the home tuition scheme. Reporting such incidents to an educational welfare officer will only serve to add to the stress of a case, and every effort should be made to encourage students back to school without resorting to such action. Some parents have indicated that because children are out of school and a routine for so long, they are finding it difficult to get the children back to school.

When will therapeutic services resume? I acknowledge this may not relate directly to the Minister of State's portfolio but it is very strongly connected to it. Are there plans to increase the numbers of SNAs? She made reference to the 120 additional NEPS psychologists to be recruited. Are they now working in schools or is it something that will happen in the coming months?

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