Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will pick up on the point just made by the Minister of State on amendments. We have submitted five amendments. If it is of assistance to the Minister and the Minister of State, I can send the amendments to them directly. If they are of use, they may want to consider them and make any technical adjustments that might be needed. If it is not possible to agree them in the Dáil, there will be an opportunity to do so in the Seanad. I appreciate the tight timescale. If it is of assistance, I can send on the amendments.

I welcome the legislation. It is something that we called for in a Private Members' motion several weeks ago. We have called for it in the Dáil on several occasions so it would be churlish not to acknowledge that it is a positive step. It will not solve all the issues but it will be a useful tool. It is illustrative that the Minister said that on one occasion, it took 14 months to conclude a section 37A process. This is not acceptable. It is clear that the process is excessive and needs to be truncated and condensed. I welcome the Bill and I thank the Minister and Minister of State for bringing it forward. I also thank Ms Martina Mannion and Mr. Martin McLoughlin for the briefing during the week to help us get our heads around what is a technical Bill. It was appreciated. There is a fair bit of detail in this legislation, which we must deal with in a relatively short timeframe. We appreciate the co-operation of the Department.

A number of issues need to be addressed. We support the Bill. Tá sé luachmhar agus tá ciall leis. Cuireann sé an próiseas chun cinn agus ní bheidh sé chomh fada agus a bhí. Níl an iomarca céimeanna ann anois, mar a bhíodh ann. Tá sé tábhachtach go mbeadh an próiseas seo sciobtha. Fundamentally, at the heart of this are children who have a constitutional right to an appropriate education. They are children who deserve the same chance that every child in the State is entitled to, which is to be educated in a suitable setting with suitable resources and to be able to reach their fullest potential. This is what this is about. We are debating this at a time when there are parents, particularly in Dublin but also in Kildare, Meath, Cork and other places, who do not have a school place for their children for September. That is not acceptable.

The Ombudsman for Children's report was published recently and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, accepted that it was discriminatory that the State did not have adequate places for these children. This is an unacceptable set of circumstances. I know it is not a situation anyone wants to be in and we have not arrived at this point deliberately. However, it is still the case that it is the failure of politics and policy that on 1 July there are parents who do not know where their children will go to school in September. This is something we need to work to eliminate entirely. This process can help in the short term but we need much more than this.

When debating the motion we tabled two weeks ago I highlighted the lack of planning on the part of the NCSE and the Department that has led us to this position every summer for the past five or six years. We need to ensure the NCSE and the Department are in a position to use the information at their disposal to make decisions at the earliest possible stage about school places the following September. One of the amendments I have tabled for Committee Stage is to require the NCSE to publish an evaluation of the adequacy of school places in the September of the previous year. Next September, I would like to see the Department and the NCSE publish their prediction of how many places will be needed in September 2023 and September 2024. It should not be just a matter of knowing the capacity exists. Parents want to be able to plan a year in advance and we need to get to this position. I believe the NCSE has the scope to gather this information. It has some of the information already. Working with the CSO, the HSE, Tusla, schools and the early years sector, it should be possible to make an accurate prediction.

I would like to see a situation where instead of speaking about special education next May, June and July, the discourse would be wrapped up by Christmas and we would have a picture of how many places are needed. Not only should we have that picture but it should be an accurate analysis. Any section 37A process, even the shortened version put in place by the Bill, should have begun and be well under way at that stage, so it would be all wrapped up and schools and parents would be in a position to prepare. That is how this should work. That is where we need to get to. I will table amendments in this regard. I am conscious that section 37A cannot be a political pressure release valve. This is a useful Bill but it is late in the day and it will not solve all of the issues for September. This will require legislation certainly but it will also require work on the ground, area by area, to identify places in special classes and special schools. I urge that we try to address this in advance.

This issue is fundamentally about planning. I believe the resources exist. In Dublin there are 800 or 900 schools and between 100 and 150 students who do not have a place. Is there capacity with adequate planning? Are the resources there? I am absolutely certain they are. I am not sure this is a budgetary issue. Budgetary issues absolutely have to follow, as resources will have to follow, and I will return to this but we need to get far enough ahead of the curve. Tá sé fíorthábhachtach go dtógfaimis an deis pleanáil cheart a dhéanamh luath go leor. Ba cheart go mbeadh an cinneadh déanta bliain roimh ré más féidir, nó sa bhreis air sin, dhá bhliain roimh don leanbh dul ar scoil, idir bunscoil nó meánscoil, ionas go mbeidh na spásanna ann. Ba cheart go mbeimid in ann brath ar an gcinneadh sin, agus ar an tuarascáil agus an léargas. Tá leasuithe curtha chun cinn agam ionas go mbeidh an NCSE ag tuairisciú ar na háiteanna a mbeidh gá leo.

The impression I have been given during the briefing and my first reading of the Bill is that consultation is being consolidated and many things that could happen subsequent to each other are happening concurrently. The INTO has analysis that suggests this is not the case and that some opportunities for consultation are not available. I will not offer a view on that at this point but I acknowledge that view exists and I will consider it further before Committee Stage, Report Stage and when the Bill goes to the Seanad. It is important that we get the balance right. We cannot allow consultation to drive the process into sclerosis and knot it up. We do not want to see that but it is important that we get the balance right. I know this would be the objective of the Minister and the Minister of State but it is important that we ensure it is the case.

A point that has rightly been made in recent days and weeks is that a school place is not just four walls. It is not simply a classroom. It is about ensuring there are adequate resources, the children are part of the school community and that there are physical resources and human resources, including special needs assistants, special education teachers and therapists. It is not in the remit of the Department but it is relevant in a whole-of-government approach. The Minister's speech identified the resources but did not mention therapists. The Minister mentioned special needs assistants, the planning and building unit, the National Educational Psychological Service and training courses.

That is all welcome, albeit I am not sure it is readily and speedily available, particularly when it comes to training issues. Therapies are an essential part of ensuring these children can thrive. The feedback I got from groups, including groups in Deputy Ward's area, is that access to therapies is going backwards. Parents have described the Danu special school in Dublin 15 as a school that is special in name only. Three years after it was established parents are still fighting for their children to receive basic supports so that they can be educated. One of the parents talked about it being an approach of containment rather than education. The HSE apologised to families who had a poor experience in trying to access care and information. I am sure none of that is the fault of the staff of the school. Fundamentally it comes down to inadequate therapies - speech and language, occupational therapy, psychiatry, psychology and physiotherapy.

In my experience the community disability national teams are going backwards. Parents do not know how to navigate it and feel lost in the system. It is a very serious problem and I ask the Minister to address it. Some of the amendments I will be tabling will address that to some extent. Obviously, I cannot propose amendments that place a cost on the Exchequer, but I am trying to address it as best I can. It is important that we get a response to that. People need to have confidence.

I welcome the announcement last night of a special school in my own area. It will not be open until January 2023 which comes back to the issue of planning. However, I welcome it and it will offer important places. I know the Cork ETB is a very professional organisation which I am sure will organise it well. It is vital that it is more than just the physical space.

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