Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill on the provision of education for children with special needs. I thank both Ministers for being in the House today. It has been well outlined that we have a significant problem with providing the educational pathway for children with special needs and disability. We all want to provide, inasmuch as it is possible, the opportunity for children to be offered education in mainstream schools, where possible, and close to their homes and siblings, where appropriate.

I note the Minister of State's invocation of section 37A in order to try to move the school capacity issue along. That was probably a difficult decision for her to make, but it was necessary.

We can all acknowledge the challenges families are facing, particularly those who need special education for their children. We have parents who are burnt out and acting as family carers, particularly for children with a profound disability, but even for those with a mild sensory disability, it is a difficult challenge for parents. The children want to be included among their peers. No child likes to be excluded, regardless of his or her sensory perception of the world. Children want to be with children generally and do better in that situation, but they often need specialist one-to-one care.

We have to give a big hand out to teachers. I have engaged with many teachers and schools. My experience has been that teachers predominantly want to offer the best possible opportunity to every pupil in their school and their frustration is largely born of a perceived lack of resourcing. We have significant problems and the Government is doing what it can in terms of additional funding but the requirements are there for additional places and supports.

I will read a letter from my colleague in the Regional Group, Deputy Naughten:

Minister Madigan has on more than one occasion told the Dáil that where schools were collaborating and there was a willingness to open the special classes, they should be given the space and time to do that.

Despite that approach being taken, the Department and the NCSE are not supporting schools that are willing to establish special classes.

For example, St. Comán’s Wood Primary School in Roscommon Town has been refused a special class for children with multiple and complex disabilities.

This is despite the school having the numbers for such a class and despite the fact the application was supported by both the HSE's senior psychologist in the child disability network team and the local SENO.

I note there are 25 special classes in mainstream schools for children with multiple disabilities throughout the country.

There are two in Clare, five in Cork, two in Donegal, four in Galway, eight in Kerry, one in Louth and three in Mayo.

Not one has been sanctioned for County Roscommon. [Indeed, not one has been sanctioned for my own county of Waterford. Regarding Roscommon, he said:] Despite the fact that a board of management has identified a need, supported the school in making the application and received the endorsement of both the HSE and the SENO, the Department of Education is not willing to support the establishment of this special class.

This raises a serious question as to exactly what is going on. If we have people allied to the school sector who, through the pathways, recommend special classes and the Department does not support them, that situation needs to be looked at.

I will talk about the provision of SNAs. A number of schools have been on to me about trying to increase the number of SNAs. In one case, a school in west Waterford was on to the Department many months ago outlining a difficult disability case that was coming into the school and its needs for support, and requesting an additional SNA to help the child. They were told to bring the child into the school, let him or her enrol and then make the application in September. This child is in a wheelchair and has particular issues around bathroom and all of that. They do not have the wherewithal. I think an appeal was put in on the case but, as far as I know, nothing has been heard. This outlines the frustration of teachers and teaching management. We must have a better pathway to engage on these individual issues. Like so much in Dáil Éireann, it is not rocket science. It requires people to sit down, communicate and understand the needs from both sides of the House as to what is possible in terms of reporting.

I pay tribute to the Ombudsman for Children, Dr. Niall Muldoon. His report flagged a number of issues which have been discussed widely in this House, not least the need, as far as possible, to provide educational places close to children's homes. We have approximately 15,500 children attending special education. Funnily enough, what is happening in special education mirrors the difficulties in accessing disability services such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy. We have families in Waterford being sent to Dungarvan for occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, etc., twice a week. That is a round trip of 60 miles two days per week, or 120 miles in total, and the cost goes into family budgets. That is approximately three gallons of petrol, which is an additional €30 per week or €120 per month of net after-tax revenue to support that simple activity to move children along. It points to the need for a more joined-up approach.

The lack of psychological assessments has been widely raised. The Ombudsman for Children highlighted that there are 4,000 delayed appointments. I have been in contact with large schools with in excess of 350 or 400 students and they get an average total of appointments for psychological assessments of two per year. If up to one in four children is on the autism spectrum, we can see straight away that children are being excluded from a pathway to specialised supports. We have 1,500 children in home tuition. Look at the pressure that puts on a family member. It usually falls on the mothers and fathers but sometimes it falls on the siblings, who end up acting as semi-carers in a home.

I point to the fact of increasing and worsening trends in the autism spectrum in Ireland and, unfortunately, that is mirrored across Europe. The current assessment is that 25% of the student population may be somewhere in that range. Are we doing enough in this country to look at the potential problems that are causing this? ASD was not as prevalent 25 or 30 years ago. The data tell us that. We must start looking at research into food, genetics, environment and probably even water provision because there is something going on in the country that is leading to an increasing number of children suffering, requiring special educational needs, having attention deficit disorder, etc. The Ombudsman for Children pointed this out in another way, saying we are probably being more reactive than active. I ask the Department to engage with research bodies to see if there are common themes in terms of public information and public health we could look to try to mitigate this rising trend.

I know this is a difficult space for the Government and that it is allocating nearly a quarter of its educational budget to the provision of special needs education, including school places.

This is not a new problem and it will not be sorted in the next year or two. I commend the work of both Ministers and what they are trying to do in what is a very difficult space but we need clearer lines of communication between schools and the Department and we need better assessment with regard to accessing early intervention services, because that will be key if we are to have an impact on this problem.

See this speech in context