Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their contributions to this debate.

I too share their views that children with special education needs should be supported to access the education system. As a Government, we fully recognise the importance of an inclusive and all-embracing education system. Never is it more important than in the case of children with special education needs. I fundamentally believe that our most vulnerable children in society must be prioritised.

Government policy on supporting children with special educational needs aims to ensure that all children with special needs can have access to an education appropriate to their needs. Our policy is to provide for inclusive education and to ensure the maximum possible integration of children with special needs into ordinary mainstream schools. Where pupils require more targeted interventions, special class or special school placements are also provided.

I re-emphasise the significant levels of financial provision that are made each year to ensure that all children with special educational needs, SEN, can access education. The Department currently spends in excess of €2 billion, which is over 25% of the Department's budget, on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with SEN.

My Department has significantly increased the availability of specialist placements for children with SEN as well as bringing ever more children into mainstream education. Continuing to add capacity in schools to support SEN provision is a key priority of the Government and a key priority in the roll-out of the national development plan.

I recently secured an agreement with the Department which ensures that all new school buildings will have compulsory special class provision moving forward. This future proofing will include the incorporation of four special classes in all new 1,000 student post-primary schools and other large-scale projects, and pro-rataprovision for medium-to-smaller schools. Primary school buildings will also include special class provision and that will be accommodation for two special classes.

In the national development plan, there will also be a particular emphasis at post-primary level. This includes permanent accommodation for 292 special classes and additional capacity for 122 classrooms in 22 special schools delivered during the national development plan, NDP, period, which was 2018 to 2021. There is a further 700 projects currently progressing under the NDP which will deliver over 1,300 new SEN classrooms and 200 replacement SEN classrooms catering for approximately 7,800 SEN pupils across primary and post-primary. Almost 100 of these projects are currently on-site, which will ultimately deliver classroom spaces for almost 1,000 additional SEN pupils. Taken together, this will enable new additional or modernised accommodation at over 50% of the special schools and 60% of post-primary schools will either have an existing special class or have a project on the school building programme which will provide SEN accommodation.

8 o’clock

In March last, I announced for the first time that special education provision would open with the fee charging patron, the Spiritan Education Trust. This was a significant policy direction change for the Department and one that I was proud to spearhead. We listened to school communities. We listened to what parents were telling us. I welcomed the memorandum of understanding with the Spiritan Order, which marks for the first time that schools such as these will be part of the provision of special education in Ireland without barriers to entry for those who need a place. Under this arrangement, a new special school will be established in the 2022-23 school year in the existing accommodation at the Templeogue College campus in Dublin. The overall objectives are to develop a modern, permanent provision for this school over time and to eventually enable it to cater for up to 150 pupils with special education needs. This will add significant capacity for the south Dublin area.

My Department has also informed the NCSE that the policy position has changed since March 2022 and that the Department will support special classes in other fee-charging schools as needed. This is a much-needed development which will help to meet the demand for special school places in the area. My Department has been intensely engaging with the NCSE, school patrons and school authorities to ensure there are sufficient adequate special school places and special classes available for the 2022-23 academic year. The Department, the Minister and I will continue to engage with the NCSE school patrons and school authorities over the summer months to increase capacity where needed. As the Minister mentioned, so far, 315 new special classes are due to open for the 2022-23 school year, providing 1,800 new school placements.

Fine Gael in Government has have made significant progress in recent years in increasing the number of special class and special school places, as well as increasing the numbers of special education teachers and special needs assistants to record levels. However, I know that for many parents listening, numbers and statistics mean nothing if their child does not currently have an appropriate school place. I want to say to parents that while I could not possibly understand all of the day-to-day pressures they are facing, I am on their side and I am committed to ensuring that as many places as possible are available.

Fine Gael believes in supporting children with special education needs to achieve their full potential. I believe this commitment was clear when the Tánaiste appointed me as the first ever Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion. I am determined to continue that work until no child is left without a placement. We have already made major inroads but we have a huge amount of work left to do.

I recently announced that I would be initiating the section 37A process to compel schools to increase the number of places for children with special educational needs. I was left with no other choice but to take this substantive action. I believe this is a necessary step to try to ensure that every child gets the supports he or she needs and access to school placement. All parties would prefer to see schools volunteer to provide more places, rather than places being secured on the back of an order or a direction from the Minister. The evidence available in this school year is that schools are willing to work collaboratively with the Department and the NCSE on the provision of new school places for children with special educational needs. I am grateful to all concerned for their ongoing work in this regard.

Where schools do not volunteer to provide more places, the section 37A process is one of the tools available to the Department to ensure that adequate suitable education provision is made for children with special needs. It is not a substitute for advanced planning. I fundamentally believe that all schools should have to provide places for children with special educational needs. It is not good enough for a school to say it does not cater for children with additional needs. I cannot and will not accept that.

The NCSE has formally written to me, as Minister of State, to advise me that it has formed an opinion that there is insufficient special class capacity in primary schools and special school capacity in Dublin. The second stage of the process is now complete. I have informed the NCSE in relation to planned additional provision of education for children with special educational needs and available land and buildings. The NCSE will now provide a detailed report on the matter to me, which will consider existing provision, any relevant proposed building works and which schools may be able to provide additional provision. In preparing this report, the legislation requires the NCSE to consult school patrons, national parent bodies, school management bodies and teacher unions. I have insisted that this be done as quickly as possible, and I expect that will be the case.

Furthermore, the section 37A process itself is being reviewed as part of the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act. The review will take into account actual cases where section 37A has been used and the effectiveness of it for the child. I believe the process needs to be more streamlined and a more expedited process needs to be put in place.

The Department is separately considering whether there is a need to introduce new emergency legislation to assist in securing additional special education needs provision. As the Minister said, the Department recently met the Office of the Attorney General to discuss the matter. This work will consider whether new legislation would assist in expediting the section 37A process. The Department of Education, together with the NCSE, will continue to work with schools, patron bodies and teachers so that they can establish special classes, where required, with confidence. In that way, we will continue to seek to meet the educational needs of children in their local school insofar as possible. The Department is working closely with stakeholders, including parents and advocacy groups, to ensure that children with special educational needs can access education placements that are appropriate to their needs. I am very aware that listening to the voices of parents and to those representing children with disabilities is essential to ensuring that what we deliver meets the needs of the children. There is a shared determination to work intensively on the issues facing us in relation to school placements so that we can find a way forward with the best interests of the children at heart.

I, too, thank Deputies for raising the issues today. This has provided me with an opportunity to outline to the House the Government’s commitment to ensure that children with special education needs are provided with every opportunity to fully participate in and benefit from the education system. I know this is a very emotive topic for thousands of families across the country. I realise that every case of a child with special education needs is different. I have met many parents recently and I want to let them know that we are listening.

I emphasise that the Government is committed to ensuring that each child with a special educational need has an appropriate school place, in line with their constitutional right and under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Having outlined the significant commitment towards the education of children with special needs, the Government recommends the countermotion to the House.

See this speech in context