Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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116. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way she proposes to address concerns that have been expressed regarding the school profiling element of the proposed new special needs model; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3644/15]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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How does the Minister propose to address the concerns that have been expressed about the school profiling element of the proposed new special needs model?

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, working group recommended the development of a new model for delivering teaching resources to schools to support students with special needs. It recommended that a school's special needs teaching allocation should be determined by a baseline component according to pupil numbers and a school's educational profile. This profile is to take account of the number of pupils with complex needs, the percentage of pupils performing below average in standardised tests and the social context and gender breakdown of the school. Following consultations with education partners last summer, my Department has developed a new model which could be used to allocate special needs teachers to schools. The Department last week engaged in a further round of consultations with stakeholders on the new model.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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I am sure the Minister is aware, as she is consulting education partners and is talking to teachers and principals, as I am, that there is very genuine concern among teaching staff and school management about how this will work. In regard to the school profiling principals have been asked to undertake over the past couple of months, they have been asked to provide information which many find sensitive, such as whether families and students have medical cards and financial details and backgrounds on families. Many principals have found they are not in a position to ask for that type of personal information and have been informed that if they are not able to get it directly, they should make a guess as to the situation in their schools. As a result, there is genuine concern about how the information will be used. Many principals have told me they have given very honest answers to the best of their ability on the profiles of their schools, but they have concerns about whether other schools will do the same or be as accurate in their responses. They are also concerned about how the information will be used in the future.

There are serious deficiencies and a real difficulty in ensuring that teaching hours, in particular special needs teaching hours, are allocated to students promptly. It is important that any model which is proposed to replace that is one which is fair and in which schools, teachers and parents can have confidence. What assurances can the Minister give on school profiling and the surveys teachers have returned to her in regard to how that will be used and that it will be fair system?

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue because it is of great interest to parents, in particular, of children with special needs, as well as schools in general. As is the case with anything of this nature, we have to be very careful with the introduction of a new model. At the same time, it has been clearly identified by the National Council for Special Education that the current system, which in many cases requires a medical diagnosis to put facilities in place for children in schools, discriminates against parents who cannot afford a diagnosis.

It also causes the problem mentioned by the Deputy whereby we want to have the resources in the school when the child goes there. We all agree that looking to change the model is good.

I acknowledge that there are concerns. We must find a way to figure out which schools will have the requirement for extra resource teachers. We want to give every school an element of resource hours for the children. We must try to find a way to provide those resources for the schools with particular requirements for complex needs, etc. The consultation is ongoing and we have not made a decision as to exactly how it will apply in schools. I am very keen to get the views of people particularly affected by this, as well as Deputies. If we are going to replace this model, we must ensure we can replace it with something better than what is currently in place and which is fair to all children.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister has not dealt in any detail with what I asked her to do, which was to give reassurance to schools, teachers and families as to how the school profiling will be used. The process has started and the documentation has been returned to the Department. As I indicated, there are very real concerns about the validity and consistency of the process across the board and the purpose for which it will be used. In her final response, will the Minister give an assurance that the process will be fair to those who have that concern? Although a final decision on the implementation has not been made, the Minister has certainly decided to progress with it and to undertake school profiling.

The Minister mentioned difficulties with parents not being able to afford tests and diagnoses for children to ensure they can access resource hours. Unfortunately, that arises because the State is not providing enough resources to allow such testing. Often, it is only families which can afford to have a test carried out that can access those resource hours. There is an implementation timeline for the proposed new model. What are the current plans for introducing it?

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Government has not yet taken a decision on whether it can be implemented for next September. I want to ensure we get it right so I have not yet made a decision on the timing. With regard to profiling, there is a certain amount of factual information relating to numbers of pupils with complex needs and the percentage of pupils performing below average in standardised tests. The area where concern is being expressed is a social context. We have asked schools to do their best in giving us information in that regard. The gender breakdown is there because evidence suggests there tends to be a higher percentage of boys than girls who need this kind of support.

The National Council for Special Education recommended that these criteria should be used to get a fix on a genuine way of assessing the needs of a particular school and to be fair to all children. We have asked that this be done in good faith to ensure we have accurate information before implementing any new model.