Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank Sinn Féin for proposing this motion, which the Social Democrats entirely support along with any and all actions to ensure all children's educational and human rights are met. I acknowledge the work my colleague, Deputy Gannon, has put into this issue. Unfortunately, he was unable to be here today for the debate. There is undeniably a crisis regarding appropriate school places for children with disabilities across our island, although I would be hesitant to use the word "emergency". I am hesitant because this situation has not arisen suddenly, nor has the Department been caught off guard or been unexpectedly faced with this situation. This crisis has not emerged without warning as emergencies do. It was entirely foreseeable and preventable. It is now being made worse by the Department's inability to act with urgency to adopt a rights-based approach when it comes to children with disabilities in our country.

The Education Act 1998 expressly states that the duty of the Minister for Education is to make appropriate education available to everyone in the State, including persons with disabilities. The right to education is enshrined in our Constitution and the programme for Government has a commitment to ensure each child with a special educational need has an appropriate school place in line with his or her constitutional right. Yet we know the reality, that there are many families throughout the country who cannot access education for their children with disabilities and these children's rights are being trampled on by this Government. As public representatives, we receive emails weekly if not more frequently. We see the stories on the news of families and children having to document the failure of the State to provide an education.

It is galling to hear Departments and Ministers say people with disabilities in Ireland have an equal right to access to education and that the Department's policy is to ensure appropriate education for all children with additional educational needs. While these rights exist in words and policies, in theory and in the Ministers' ideal, they do not exist in reality for these children or for their families. They do not exist in the day-to-day lives of the hundreds of children and families throughout the country who cannot get a school place, or for parents who have received more than 20 rejection letters from schools or those who have been forced to accept a school place they know is not suitable or appropriate for their child because there is no other option.

AsIAm, through its Appropriate School Place survey, found at least 267 children do not have an appropriate school place for this September. The number is likely to be significantly higher. The Minister, the Department and the NCSE have access to the data on the true number of children who require an appropriate special education place in September.

The survey of AsIAm yielded many other stark findings that show the failure of our education system to provide for all children and the utter desperation families are enduring. Two hundred and twenty-one of the respondents received no assistance from the NCSE in looking for a school place, and 126 respondents have had no communication from their special educational needs organisers. Of the respondents whose children have a school place, fewer than 50% received adequate supports, such as special needs assistants and additional teaching time, for those children, and 57% were on reduced timetables. One hundred and nine respondents accepted school places for September 2022 that are not appropriate for their child’s needs. Of these, 94% received no further support from the NCSE in finding a more suitable place. Two hundred and forty-one respondents stated they did not expect to receive an offer of an appropriate school place before September 2022. That paints a picture of a failed system.

It should be noted that AsIAm conducted this work following the indefensible and legally questionable plans surrounding the special education centres. The Department has moved away from these, which I welcome and as do many of my colleagues who are present. However, we need to ask serious questions as to why interim measures based on segregation were developed when the rights and policy are underlined by inclusion. The idea is completely at odds with international human rights and our national legislation. Regardless of how briefly it existed, we need to question how it came about.

We have a shameful past when it comes to vindicating the rights of people with disabilities. In 2018, Ireland was the last country to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, committing to do what is needed to ensure people with disabilities can exercise their human rights fully and as equals of non-disabled people.

Nearly 20 years on, the Education for People with Special Educational Needs Act has not been fully implemented. Instead, it was permitted to expire. I am aware of the ongoing review, which is needed, but we also desperately need a sense of urgency and the will to follow through. The results must not be more legislation permitted to gather dust on a shelf. That we do not operate in Ireland with a human-rights-based approach to disability is internationally embarrassing and morally repugnant.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, at its meeting in January 2016, highlighted and criticised our nation for having no comprehensive strategy for the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream education and the encouragement of their autonomy. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in its general comment on inclusive education of 2016, stated:

Placing students with disabilities within mainstream classes without accompanying structural changes ... does not constitute inclusion. Furthermore, integration does not automatically guarantee the transition from segregation to inclusion.

It also stated:

...educational institutions and programmes must be available in sufficient quantity and quality. States parties must guarantee a broad availability of educational places for learners with disabilities at all levels throughout the community.

I do not doubt the intention of the Minister or Department but there is a legacy of not meeting the needs of people with disabilities and of their rights not being met. That is why 241 of the respondents to the AsIAm survey do not expect to receive an offer of an appropriate school place before September 2022.

Families are not asking the Department to look into a crystal ball. They are asking that they and their children not be punished because those children have additional educational needs. We now have a crisis that must be dealt with urgently while maintaining those children’s rights, but we must also have a departmental commitment to planning ahead by providing multi-annual budgeting so schools will be able to provide appropriate places for children with additional educational needs ahead of schedule.

There is a disconnect between the reality of children and families across our nation and what the Department and NCSE are presenting as a reality. How many children are on a waiting list for a special school place? How many are in need of supports? The Minister must publish this information. There must be transparency regarding these failings. The information is critical and needed so we will no longer have the disconnect. I thank Sinn Féin for tabling the motion, for which I reiterate the support of the Social Democrats.

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