Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to participate in this debate on special educational needs provision for vulnerable children. I welcome the Minister of State and wish her the best of luck in her new job.

It is important that this issue is debated, although when we read the Minister of State's comments, we would have been forgiven for wondering why it should be discussed in the House when everything seems to be going so well. When she outlined all of the bodies and people she has consulted, there was no mention of the Ombudsman for Children. Surely that office should be one of the first on the list to be consulted in the context of providing practical advice from the perspective of children on how needs could be met in the future. The ombudsman has reported to a United Nations committee on how the State is supporting, or not, children, especially those with special needs. I call on the Minister of State to ensure that the ombudsman is on her list of consultees in order that she might get a picture of how the system could be improved to meet the needs of children.

The Minister of State has outlined improvements in provision and in special schools and that has to be welcomed, but like most areas, there is still more that can and should be done.

One of my concerns is the forward planning of services and making sure supports are available for children when required. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that planning for the provision of school places would happen at least a couple of years before they are needed. Especially in this day and age, most kids should be known to services long before they need a primary school place and definitely before they need a secondary school place. It amazes me how the system seems to be surprised by children in an area needing supports. I do not believe there would be any data protection issues at play here that would prevent agencies from talking to each other and planning ahead. Instead, we have seen the HSE change the requirements to make sure it does not have to provide timely services. How does that benefit children and families? It benefits only the HSE because it can say it does not have the responsibility and it can preserve its budgets. There is an urgent responsibility on the State to update documents and policies that are integral to the provision of services for children in a timely manner. I am also concerned about the use of reduced timetables for children who have special needs. This seems to be a particularly cynical way to get over the difficulty of providing services.

One thing that has come to my attention in preparation for today’s debate is the need to ensure there are adequate supports available for teachers and SNAs who have been injured during their work in schools. It seems bizarre but it appears the Department does not immediately and fully cover the cost of medical treatment, therapy or medication. Staff are not covered by special leave for the duration of medically certified leave. The Department should make sure there are supports available for staff who are victims of violence in the workplace. Of course, this not the fault of students but it is part of working life for some staff and the system should be prepared to support them.

I welcome the fact the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act is being reviewed at this stage, as the Minister of State has outlined. It is 20 years since it was enacted but the review has only just started. Is the Minister of State committed to finishing and publishing the review in a timely manner? That is vitally important. We should not have to wait for the next review to take place. Sadly, we have seen successive governments running a mile from reviews of legislation and making sure reviews are not set down in law when legislation is being passed. It has taken 20 years for the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act to happen. It is to be hoped we will see improvements on completion of the review.

I will conclude with an excerpt from the Ombudsman for Children's submission to the UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights in January which suggested that the State "should develop and implement a vision and plan to move towards an inclusive education system for all children and engage with schools, parents and children with disabilities in this regard". It is hard to believe that in 2024 this is still an aspiration rather than the norm.

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