Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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4. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the sections of the EPSEN Act he will progress; when he will decide if individual education plans are a mandatory requirement; and if he will enforce compliance with the time limits required under the Disability Act 2005 and the regulations in terms of the assessment of need. [10948/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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A number of sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 have been commenced, including those establishing the National Council for Special Education and those promoting an inclusive approach to the education of children.

Under the programme for a partnership Government, I will initiate consultation with stakeholders on how best to progress sections of the Act which were introduced on a non-statutory basis.

At present, all schools are encouraged to use education plans. The departmental inspectorate's advice is that the majority of schools are now using some form of individual education planning for children with special needs.

In line with circular 30 of 2014, schools are required to put in place a personal pupil plan, including a care plan, for each pupil availing of SNA support. While it is awaiting the full implementation of the EPSEN Act, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has published a number of policy advice papers which make recommendations aimed at developing a better or more effective alternative to the current resource allocation model and moving the system towards the ultimate implementation of the EPSEN Act. As I said to Deputy Thomas Byrne, the alternative model is being piloted in 47 schools. The ideas that will come out of that pilot will be used to make progress with the implementation of the EPSEN Act. The implementation of the Disability Act and the timeframes for assessments of need under that Act are primarily matters for my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I understand the Minister's point about the establishment of the NCSE, but surely there should be a mandatory requirement for an individual education plan for each child. I am very familiar with classroom planning, having worked as a teacher for 12 years. I am aware that class plans and subject plans are mandatory, but it seems to me that the arrangements are looser in the area of special education. I have worked with teachers in the special education sector, just as I have worked as a learning support teacher. Most teachers are excellent, in fairness. I am interested in the connotations in this regard. We talk about inclusivity and equality in education, so why not make this a mandatory process? It would make far more sense to do this in tandem with the work of the NCSE and everything else that is happening. The assessment of need, for example, ties in with education to a significant extent. I have spoken to the Minister of State with responsibility for disability issues about this issue. As the assessment of need includes educational need, it is an intrinsic part of education. For that reason, I believe both Ministers should be working on it. The compliance rate in counties Laois and Offaly at the moment is just 9%. These assessments tie into the education area because they have an impact on a child's education.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy knows, the EPSEN Act sets out very distinct statutory requirements around assessments, plans, services and appeals, etc. Essentially, the system is evolving to the point at which all of these clear legal requirements can be met. A pupil plan must be in place before a special needs assistant can be allocated to a school in respect of that pupil. The Department is using the existence of a personal pupil plan as a condition for accessing some of the key supports that may be gained by a child. We are doing our best to roll this practice out. We are piloting the new allocation process, which involves new approaches to teaching special education within our schools. We are hoping that as these pilots evolve and we learn from them, we will be in a position to implement the statutory requirements. It takes learning to move from one to the other. Work is needed at school level if the service is to evolve. In fairness, there has been a huge increase in the allocation of resource teachers and special needs assistants in recent years as Governments have been putting in place the infrastructure to underpin the personal planning approach.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for his response. I appreciate that efforts are being made. I would stand firm in my view that not enough is being done. I believe these plans should be mandatory. I would like to see a commitment from the Government to a higher rate of compliance with the requirement for assessments of need, particularly in counties Laois and Offaly, which are failing miserably to meet the targets set out in the Disability Act. It is not good enough in this day and age. We talk about equality and inclusivity in education, but we need action rather than lip service. Many of the plans and templates I have seen are based on a deficit model, which lists the child's needs and failings. It has been suggested that individual education plans, which include the child's strengths, should be made mandatory. That is where we need to be coming from. Society creates barriers for children, especially children with special needs.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Deputy. The way to implement this Act is to increase the number of resource teacher posts. The number in question increased by almost 2,000 between the 2011 and 2016 school years. There has also been a substantial increase in the number of special needs assistants. An additional 1,500 special needs assistants have been provided. This infrastructure will support the delivery of the service that will underpin the personal planning. The Deputy and I are both keen to see that service delivered. The allocations I have mentioned are being used to help schools to develop personal plans. We are using the advice of the council, which is the expert in special education, to try to put in place a model that will successfully support children in these schools. There is a lot of work going in here. Continual increases in the resources being invested will be needed. I have committed in the programme for Government to a review of this area with a view to trying to improve it.