Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

I am pleased to be here today to share the report of the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, EPSEN, Act 2004 which was published last Wednesday. It is a significant milestone in our shared work to create a more inclusive and equitable education system. The report allows for a moment of reflection - a moment to honour the hopes that inspired this landmark legislation introduced over two decades ago and to take the opportunity not only to see how far we have come but also how far we still need to go and, most importantly, the steps that are required to get there.

This is a significant step forward in shaping education policy and law based on the real lived experiences of children and young people with special educational needs and helping them achieve better educational outcomes. At the outset I sincerely thank everyone who has been involved in this review. The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and I met most of them last week. The process has been deeply collaborative. I acknowledge the extensive engagement from advocacy organisations, school leaders, staff, parents representative bodies, professionals, Departments and, most importantly, the children and young people, many of whom have engaged in this themselves.

The area of special educational needs continues to be a priority for this Government, my Department, the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan and for me. While there is much work to do we have seen substantial progress in recent years with hundreds of new special education classes provided each year as well as new special schools around the country. For the upcoming school year alone, we will have at least 400 new special education classes across the country as well as five new special schools. We are working to ensure that young people are placed in these schools as soon as possible. These will provide up to 2,700 places for children who need them. An additional 1,200 places will become available due to the movement of students which means for the upcoming year alone we will have over 3,900 available places for children seeking a special class or special school place. As I said, the most important thing is that we are making sure children are allocated those places in the place that is most appropriate to them and that their needs are supported in that school. I want to ensure that in the coming year these classes are sanctioned sooner and that places are made available to children earlier. We have brought forward the timelines for the sanctioning of classes even earlier. To do this, we are endeavouring to have all special classes sanctioned by 31 December this year for the 2026-2027 school year. The timeline for parents to register with the NCSE has also been brought forward. This will ensure that the NCSE has an earlier picture of demand that exists to allow for new special classes to be sanctioned sooner, allowing more time for these classes to be prepared, children enrolled, giving more certainty to parents and families. That is what this is all about - how we support parents and children and take away so many of the challenges and stresses that they face.

To ensure that children can access the services they require, we are also establishing the education therapy service which will see occupational therapists and speech and language therapists working in our special schools. Over the upcoming school year, we will see up to 90 therapists working in 45 special schools across the country as part of the initial roll-out of this service. The intention is that very quickly that will spread to the remaining special schools, to mainstream schools as well as special classes in them.

While the progress I have just outlined has been positive for children and families, I remain acutely aware of the real challenges some families still face, whether in securing a school place or accessing the right supports. This review is a critical step in ensuring our education system meets the needs of all children and reflects a renewed commitment to building a rights-based, inclusive system for the future.

When the EPSEN Act was first introduced in 2004 it represented a bold and necessary step forward for Ireland. For the first time, we enshrined in law a commitment to provide for the education of children with special educational needs in inclusive settings, wherever possible. While parts of the Act were commenced, some were never fully commenced in law, owing largely to overly-bureaucratic requirements of the original Act. The EPSEN Act made provision for an inclusive educational environment, an equal right to education, and assistance to acquire the skills to participate in society and live independently and above all to ensure that every child is supported to achieve their full potential. The Act also established the National Council for Special Education on a statutory footing. It is an independent but integral part of making sure we can provide those school places and that our children and schools are supported.

Since 2004, fundamental changes have occurred in the school curriculum and in teaching, learning and assessment practices, which have considerable bearing on children with additional needs. There have also been considerable changes in how we allocate resources to schools to support children. Early years education has become an integral part of the education continuum, there has been major curriculum reform at primary and post­primary levels while developments in initial teacher education and continuing professional development have promoted active and experiential teaching and learning approaches, collective and collaborative planning and assessment for learning. Importantly, we are going to do more. As of next year, any person who is engaged in teacher training will have to do a mandatory placement in special education which has never happened to date. We are working to make sure the 79,000 teachers currently in schools are supported and upskilled in training around special education.

Inclusion, equality of opportunity and the rights of all children and young people to develop their full potential are central to our education policy. The then Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion, Josepha Madigan, announced the review of the EPSEN Act in December 2021 as the original legislative intention of the EPSEN had outpaced its practical implementation. I would like to thank my predecessors in this role, the Minister, Deputy Foley, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, and Josepha Madigan, who have continued to bring this important work to this stage and I was privileged with the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, to launch the report of the review last week.

The central purpose of this review was to assess whether there is an adequate legislative basis for the current and future educational provision for children with additional needs. It is about more than just structures but is about protecting the rights of children and families, ensuring high-quality educational experiences and that we are meeting students’ needs. The review seeks to align policy and law with lived experience. We want to make sure every child with additional needs can access the right supports at the right time in the place that is most appropriate for them.

While the EPSEN Act was a landmark in its time, establishing the National Council for Special Education and committing to inclusion, as I mentioned, it was never fully commenced. In the 20 years since the Act was passed, Ireland’s legal and educational landscapes have evolved significantly. Major reforms have taken place in curriculum, teaching and assessment, as well as in the broader inclusion and equality agendas. Given these changes, fully commencing the Act as originally written was not a viable option. That is why we are now looking forward and why this review was so necessary.

It reflects one of the most comprehensive consultations ever carried out in the area of special education in Ireland and was led by the special education section of the Department of Education and Youth. In conducting the review, we have listened to students, parents, educators, advocacy groups and experts in special education. Their input has been vital and will continue to guide the implementation process. I want to sincerely thank everyone who took part in this review and shared their own experience. Over 28,000 people took part in the initial public survey, a remarkable response that reflects the depth of public interest and experience. A structured programme of focus groups followed, involving students, parents, educators and professionals. These groups helped explore key themes in more detail and ensured that under-represented voices were heard. Children and young people in particular were always at the centre of this work and we really wanted to hear from them about their experiences. We held focus groups with 80 students, 35 English-speaking face-to-face students and 45 Irish-speaking students, who were under the age of 18. Participants took part in adult focus-group meetings with four actual meetings in various locations throughout the country and one virtual meeting. We also engaged in focus groups with younger adults too, aged from 18 to 25 years. We placed particular emphasis on ensuring children and young people could participate directly. I want to highlight the creation of an easy-read survey. That allowed children and persons of all abilities to share their views in a way that was accessible and meaningful. This was the first time such a process was used by my Department and was a method to ensure that all voices could be included. We received over 900 responses to the easy-read accessible online survey. No constraints were put on the body of work the review group has done. At a very early stages, my Department working with other Departments wanted to ensure every voice was heard, every concern could be raised and that nobody who was involved in the process felt it was constrained. We were not just looking at legislation but also at policy and all aspects of it. An academic review was completed to examine legislation, case law and international best practice. A very significant development captured in the academic review paper is the central position now given to the rights of the child and to the rights of persons with disabilities, as evidenced in legal judgments in Ireland and in international conventions to which Ireland is a signatory, notably the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD. Ireland’s ratification of the UNCRPD obliges it to ensure that Irish legislation and policy regarding inclusive education are consistent with its core features. The review and the recommendations outlined are fully aligned with this rights-based approach. The steering group, working group and advisory group met frequently, I think it was bi-weekly, to analyse the evidence and develop the recommendations presented in this report.

I will name some of the review’s key findings. The process of reviewing the EPSEN Act has brought to light a number of areas where the participants considered that changes or developments in existing legislation, policy or practice were required. In particular, children and young people highlighted the importance of belonging, being respected and having access to life skills, active and experiential learning.

They placed significant value on relationships, the entire school environment and making sure their voices were at the centre of everything we did and were heard in the decisions that affected them.

The report identified 51 recommendations. It is divided into 16 key themes where policy and legislative reform is required. Among them is a recommendation to consider bringing all school-aged children under a single Act to ensure a legal rights-based approach to inclusive education. We have the admissions Act, the Education Act and the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act. We have to consider how we bring legislation together.

Another key area is the completion of the roadmap towards an inclusive education system, one that is proactive and not reactive and supports strong transitions from early years to post-primary and beyond. Much of this work is already happening in order to make sure that we look ahead, plan for the future and do not just react as perhaps we have done in the past.

Other findings related to student support plans, which the review recommends be given a statutory basis to ensure consistency and accountability in meeting individual needs. The report also calls for a review of language used in the area of additional needs, something that we need to be conscious of. Critically, the review reaffirmed the importance of the rights of the child, meaningful parental involvement and closer engagement between Departments and Government agencies. It also points to the need for continued investment in professional learning for the education workforce, something I have mentioned. I wish to stress that we are working on an SNA workforce plan, which we hope to publish this September. These recommendations offer a comprehensive roadmap for change.

Many of the policy changes are stepping stones towards possible future legislation and can be progressed more quickly. Some of the recommendations we are already acting and moving on. I am committed to achieving these recommendations, working with the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and my colleagues not just in education, but in the Department of children and disability. Before the end of the year, we will publish an implementation plan. It will be grounded in these recommendations, which will guide how we move forward, strengthen the legislative and policy foundations of inclusive education and ensure proper implementation across the Government.

Ongoing engagement will remain a cornerstone of this next phase. It is important that the plan be published and this body of work happen. The most important thing we can do is make sure that all of the recommendations are acted on and we have a very clear plan in respect of who is responsible for the actions, what timelines we are setting out and how we make sure that we all hold ourselves to account so that these recommendations can be fully realised and achieved as soon as possible.

This will help to shape future decisions, positively impact the educational experience of children with special educational needs and their families, and help us to create a more inclusive and supportive education system for all. It is ambitious, but deliverable and absolutely necessary. I again thank all of those who have been involved in this process and look forward to working with them in the future.

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