Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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5. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the Down's Syndrome (Equality of Access) Bill 2013 and its implications for pupils with a disability. [45415/14]

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Will the Minister for Education and Skills provide an update on the Down's Syndrome (Equality of Access) Bill 2013 and its implications for pupils with a disability? In this case, I am referring in particular about children with Down's syndrome. Does the Minister accept the educational principle that children with Down's syndrome who attend mainstream primary or second level schools thrive in such situations provided the proper resources are put in place?

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Private Members' Down's Syndrome (Equality of Access) Bill 2013 has passed Second Stage in the Dáil and has been referred to the Committee on Education and Social Protection.

The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education has recommended that a new model for allocating resource teachers to schools be put in place, which proposes that pupils, including those with Down's syndrome, should be allocated additional resources in line with their level of need, rather than by disability category. My Department is currently working to develop this model and to assess the impact of the new model on schools and on children. I have asked my officials to report on whether, and from when, this new model could be brought into place.

In the meantime, pupils with Down's syndrome will continue to receive resource teaching support from teachers allocated to schools either through the general allocation model or by the NCSE.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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I thank the Minister for her reply. She has confirmed that there will be additional resources for children with disabilities, for example, in 2015. However, there has to be some level of stability and guarantee for all children with disability so that when they attend their local primary school, resources will be put in place for them. It has been proven internationally that such pupils thrive educationally in these situations.

Now that the foot is off cutbacks in resources, we need to keep the focus on such services. Many of these services have been cut over the last four or five years. Huge hits have meant that the Minister was unable to deal with class sizes, which is an important issue when one is working with children with disabilities in mainstream classes. Our primary classes are still the second largest in the EU, so we need to examine that in next year's budget.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I acknowledge that Deputy McGrath has campaigned for a long time for, and has taken a particular interest in, children with special educational needs, including those with Down's syndrome. As he indicated, I was able to announce extra resource teachers and special needs assistants, SNAs, in the recent budget. They will be provided for schools during the coming year.

The NCSE has presented proposals on changing the model and I am sure the Deputy has had a chance to examine them. This is in line with what the Deputy said about having resources in schools when the children come in, rather than having a diagnosis. In terms of Down's syndrome that is not terribly difficult, but other conditions can be quite difficult to diagnose. In some cases, parents spend money they cannot afford in order to obtain a diagnosis. We therefore want to change the system around.

The consultation process is ongoing in this regard. I expect to get some information back on that consultation quite soon through the NCSE. The question is whether we will be able to implement the proposals for the next school year or whether it might be later. Much of that will depend on what happens in the consultation process and the effect the change would have on schools. Essentially, we want to provide for need rather than providing to schools simply on the basis of previous models that were used, particularly the medical diagnosis model.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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I acknowledge that the Minister was very positive in the budget in providing for extra SNAs, teachers and other resources in the primary school sector. I support that major step in the right direction. We need to radically reform our education system constantly to ensure that it is inclusive. There is a broad range of pupils' needs across the disability sector, including more urgent cases than children with Down's syndrome. I take the Minister's point but they need well planned supports to be in place from September to June.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I fully agree with Deputy McGrath about schools being inclusive. The admissions to schools Bill, which we will be publishing soon, will involve having a statement from schools saying they welcome children on the grounds of ability or disability. It is important that no barriers should be put in place.