Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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While this is no reflection on the Minister of State present, as has been raised in the Chamber previously, it is wholly inappropriate that the Minister for Education and Skills, or at least a Minister of State at that Department, is not here. I have had this issue down for debate as a Topical Issue matter for the past two weeks. It was only selected today and I am very glad it has been selected. However, the Minister for Education and Skills or someone from his Department should be here to answer the questions on this very serious issue that affects many children with Down's syndrome.

I commend the Down Syndrome Education Equality Advocates, representing parents of children with Down's syndrome, which has firmly placed this issue on the political agenda. If we look over history, I find it disturbing and saddening that parents of children with special needs or disabilities have to argue and fight continually for the rights of their children. I hope that soon it will no longer be necessary and parents and children will have their rights enshrined as a matter of course. I have been in regular contact with parents of children with Down's syndrome and some of them have become experts in the area. One person from the Donegal Down's Syndrome Association, Gina Grant, has given me international research evidence from Australia, the United States, Britain and other places.

The Minister of State may be aware that Down's syndrome is a low-incidence disability that affects 0.2% of the population in the State, but it does not appear on the list of low-incidence disabilities in the Department's 2005 circular. Being on this list would entitle the children with Down's syndrome and a mild learning disability to avail of resource teaching. However, in 2005, the then Minister for Education and Science decided to end that practice, taking away that right for automatic resource hours teaching for these children. The list of 11 makes specific speech and language disability one of those specified low incidence disabilities. However, to avail of resource hours under these criteria, a child's IQ must be average or higher. All children with Down's syndrome have a specific speech and learning disorder but do not qualify because they do not have an average IQ. International research clearly indicates that children with Down's syndrome with a mild learning disability often have speech and language delay over and above what would be expected with mild learning disability, resulting in problems with articulation, comprehension, expression and learning grammar. Thinking and reasoning skills are also affected. Speech and language delays affect access to all areas of the curriculum, not just language tasks.

While it did not happen during the term of this Government, a previous Administration in 2005 did a terrible injustice to children with Down's syndrome when the automatic right to resource teaching was taken from them. Unfortunately, many children with Down's syndrome have gone through the mainstream education system and had that resource denied to them.

I wish to articulate the feelings of those who work with children with Down's syndrome who can put it better than I can. A letter from a resource teacher in a school in Donegal states:

Frequently, a child with Down Syndrome may score just above the cut off point for resource hours and be denied this vital intervention.

Consider if you will, an infant with Downs in our school at the moment, whose overall intellectual ability is at the first percentile. His needs span the entire Downs range, from language, motor, social, academic and care needs. This child shares an S.N.A. with two other highly compromised children in his class, both with special needs. Add to that the daily demands of his other infant classmates and you can begin to imagine the uphill battle he faces daily. His report cited the absolute need for "individual resource tuition", but this was not granted. As a result, we have had to accommodate him in an already oversubscribed support system. This is an injustice, primarily to the child and secondly, to those who attempt to meet his needs on a daily basis.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I must stop the Deputy there.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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I will conclude on this. The letter continues:

What will happen, is that he will begin to fall behind in a class and as the gap widens between him and his peers, we will then have to go through the lengthy and time consuming process of reassessing him. A bit like closing the gate when the horse has already bolted!!

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I really must stop the Deputy there.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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The letter continues: "I urge you; give him and every child with Down Syndrome ... [an] automatic entitlement to Resource hours."

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I am pleased to have been given the opportunity by the Deputy to clarify the position on the provision of teaching support for children with Down's syndrome. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn.

Pupils with Down's syndrome who are attending mainstream primary schools may receive additional teaching support in primary schools, either under the terms of the general allocation model of teaching supports if the pupil's educational psychological assessment places the pupil in the mild general learning disability or high-incidence disability category, or through an allocation of individual additional resource teaching hours which are allocated to schools by the National Council for Special Education if the child is assessed as being within the low-incidence category of special need, as defined by my Department's circular Sp Ed 02/05.

Pupils with Down's syndrome who are assessed as being within the category of mild general learning disability but who also have an additional assessment of another low-incidence disability, such as hearing impairment, will also be supported by an additional allocation by the NCSE. Resource teaching provision is therefore made for children with Down's syndrome in the same manner as for other children with assessed syndromes and in accordance with the policy of the Department, which is set out in circular 02/05.

Whether resource teaching hours are allocated to schools under the general allocation model or through an allocation made by the NCSE based on individual low-incidence special needs, it is a matter for schools to then utilise and manage those resources to best provide for the teaching needs of qualifying children. Each school will use its professional judgment to decide how the provision of additional resource teaching time and hours is made to the qualifying pupils in the school to ensure all their individual needs are met.

Additional teaching time may be provided to pupils on an individual basis or in pairs or small groups. It may also be provided in the classroom through team teaching or through withdrawal to a resource teaching room. Guidance for schools on the management of their resource teaching allocations is provided in special education circular 02/05.

The NCSE, which has a formal role under section 20 of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 to advise the Minister for Education and Skills on any matter relating to the education of children and others with disabilities, has been asked to provide policy advice on the issue of whether Down's syndrome should be reclassified as a low-incidence disability in all instances, regardless of assessed cognitive ability. This advice will be included in the NCSE's policy advice on how the education system can best support children with special educational needs, which will be published in the near future.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for the response, although it sheds no more light on the issue. Indeed, I can provide more information than she has provided. For example, the Minister of State said the NCSE would provide the policy advice in the near future.

It will do so directly to the Minister for Education and Skills at 11.30 a.m. on Friday at a public launch event.

The key question is about the rights of children with Down's syndrome. Until 2005 all children with Down's syndrome were allocated additional resource hours or resource hours on a one-to-one basis as a matter of priority. The Minister today could sit in his office and with the stroke of a pen could grant the 24 children per year the resource service as an automatic right allowing the parents to get on with caring for their children and not have to take on the State or the Government to get their children's rights.

Given that this would cost approximately €5,000 per child, when will the Minister act on the recommendations of the National Council for Special Education? Will he ensure that by September all Down's syndrome children classified with a mild learning disability will be allocated resource hours? Why must we wait almost two years for a report from the NCSE to do something when it should be a matter of fact and right? A cross-party group has been established in the House to advocate on behalf of parents of children with Down's syndrome. We are speaking about a small group of children who face many other difficulties in life. This is just one uphill battle they face. It is a small amount of money. This should happen as a matter of course and it should not have been as protracted as it has been. When will the Minister act on the advice of the NCSE? Will he assure parents that by September these resource hours will be in place? Schools must make arrangements in this regard.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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As the Deputy stated, the NCSE will report to the Minister very shortly, and I am sure his information must be accurate and it will be on Friday. It will then be in the public arena and I hope parents in particular and Deputies will have an opportunity to comment on the report. It is a statutorily appointed body, the role of which is to provide advice in this area to the Minister. He will have to consider this advice and the views of parents. I am sure he will not delay in responding but I cannot give the Deputy a date when he will reply. I am sure the Minister will take the opportunity to respond as soon as possible.