Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Again, I would like to thank the Deputy for raising this issue but I would draw his attention to the fact, and he would know this, the Education Act 1998 requires schools to identify and support the education needs of all of their students and to use school resources to provide for those education needs.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, has set out guidance and frameworks to assist primary, post-primary and special schools and classes in the identification of educational need. Since 2017 and the introduction of the special education teacher model, the identification of educational needs has been central to the way schools provide for the inclusion and participation of all students. This marked a significant shift from a diagnostic-driven system of allocating support to a front-loaded, responsive and needs-led model. Schools are required to use their available resources to ensure that the education needs of all students, including those with a disability or other additional educational needs, are identified and provided for. It is, therefore, proposed that this approach to identifying education need in schools, an approach which is comprehensive, robust, evidence-informed and appropriate to the education sector at this time, is also appropriate for the purpose of identifying education needs under the Disability Act. I am assured that the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, is satisfied that the educational component of the assessment of need process is child-centred, in line with educational good practice and ensures that schools, who hold all of the relevant information on the child, are supported in providing this detail to the HSE. I assure the Deputy that the Department of Education and the NCSE will continue to provide support to schools as needed. I will certainly reflect Deputy Ó Laoghaire's concern to the Minister of State and ask that guidance be given in that regard.

See this speech in context