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

The whole area of assessments of need has, unfortunately, moved from crisis to crisis and rushed solution to rushed solution. A series of court cases has been taken in the past year or so. These found that the approach being taken to the assessment of needs model that was in place was inconsistent with the Disabilities Act. Children were not getting adequate assessment of their needs. In many instances, children were only being seen briefly under what was called the standard operating procedure. That was struck down.

Approximately five days ago, schools received a note from the Department of Education outlining the report of educational needs for the purpose of the assessment of need under the Disabilities Act 2005. To say that has alarmed and worried school staff, teachers and principals is an understatement.

They believe, and are quite entitled to believe on reading this document the Department has circulated, that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is passing the buck and is effectively asking schools, teachers and principals, to be the very first step in the assessment of need, AON, process and to be the people who are effectively involved in drafting a document which could form part of a legal document under the Disability Act, which is the assessment of need. This is grossly unfair on school staff, on parents and, of course, on children that schools are now essentially being charged with the initial screening or beginning of the assessment of need process. School staff are not qualified, by their own admission, to do an assessment of children with additional educational needs and it seems this is not in line with the Disability Act. It is certainly not in line with what Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, EPSEN, Act envisioned is in the best interests of children. Legal experts and many people involved in the special education area believe that the legal basis for this is questionable.

On top of that, this is simply not a sustainable approach. The courts decided that the NCSE had a role to play in this and that it would be responsible for ensuring that the educational needs were incorporated into the assessment of need. At no stage in that court case was it said that the NCSE should decide that the schools should do that, because those in schools are not educational psychologists. The schools have many very capable people who have a great deal of talents, with special education teachers and so forth, but the schools themselves would be the first to say they are not trained to assess the educational needs of children for the purpose of an assessment of need, which is a legal document which has considerable status in the Disability Act.

This is an ill-thought-out approach and will lead to schools, principals and teachers being caught between a rock and a hard place. It could potentially lead to children not getting an appropriate or adequate assessment of need, or being passed over entirely, with all of the implications that that has for admissions to special classes at post-primary level and to special schools, for their therapies or for any supports they need through the system as a whole. This is a very badly thought-out approach and I urge the Department to reconsider it.

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