Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important Bill. I welcome the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, to the House to hear the very important views of all of the Members, both the Government and Opposition. Every Member in this House feels very strongly on the subject we are discussing here today. I have no doubt there is not a Deputy who has not been contacted by parents of children with special needs about their education, their future education, and their education in mainstream schools. It is also about services, and often the lack of services. I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, on the work she has done in this area over the past two years.

As the Chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, I have worked very closely with the Minister and the Minister of State. We have seen substantial progress in the past two years from the Department of Education in and around the provision of school places for children with special educational needs. I have seen this at first hand and it includes the opening of more than 300 new special classes for 1,800 students this year and a further 315 classes planned from September.

I welcome deeply the legislation before the House today. By its very nature, the section 37A process identifies schools that have not agreed to open special classes. Often, they must be named and be brought to task. They must be challenged for what they might not be doing or for the way they might be going about their business. This legislation seeks to reduce the timeframe of the process to within six or eight weeks. This will result in more schools being served with section 37A notices. It will increase the amount of special class places, which I very much welcome.

It is interesting to hear some Members in the Opposition speaking about the lack of places. I am aware that families often must travel long distances to get access to special needs education, especially in rural Ireland where I am a serving Deputy. Some Members in the Opposition are saying we should name and shame schools and then also saying they want more and more classes. This is what we are doing here. We are creating more places for more special needs children. That will be the result of this Bill.

I am very much aware of the special needs provision in my county. I was with the Minister, Deputy Foley, recently in Enniscorthy at St. Senan's National School. They have a fantastic special needs unit there and they have been doing fantastic work there over a long number of years. It is the same with St. Aidan's National School and many other schools in my constituency. I will not name them all but a considerable amount of fantastic work is being done. One must salute the principals, the teaching staff, the special needs assistants, and all of the people involved in providing that special education. Unfortunately, we have a high number of pupils who need special education. They deserve the same chance as anybody here in this House would get in their education. We should give them every opportunity to have that chance and they should get every opportunity to have the same access.

There are, however, significant challenges, especially around the area of diagnosis. Once a child is diagnosed, it is then about the backup. Once a person gets into the system, he or she is very well looked after. The problem is getting into the system and being part of the system. There is a long waiting list to be diagnosed. I would like the Department of Education, the HSE, and the Department of Health to work more closely together on the services that are provided for children with special educational needs. I appeal to the Minister and the Minister of State that they would work more closely with the other Departments and with the HSE.

We have spoken about the special educational needs organisers, SENOs, and the very important job they do. They are ? under severe pressure. I would like to see an increase in the number of SENOs. In fairness, the Government has committed on the special needs assistants front. When I was in Government in 2011, it was a very big political hot topic at the time. Over the years of the Government in 2011 and this Government, the number of new SNAs who have entered the system has been fantastic. They do a fantastic job. Many children would not be able to go to school every day without the help of their special needs assistants. I applaud the Government for its work and commitment on that, and for what they have invested in the SNA system over many years.

I very much welcome this legislation. It will give families considerable relief. There has been a lot of criticism over the past while. The Minister and the Minister of State, as political representatives, must do a job, and often they have to make some very difficult decisions along the road and journey they must take. I welcome this opportunity to speak on the Bill and I welcome the legislation.

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