Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I am disappointed that the Minister announced the removal of the over-age exemption in the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme from September 2018 onwards in respect of children with special needs. I am pleased that, presumably when she got notice of this debate and after a strong campaign by parents that garnered more than 20,000 signatures, she last night announced that she would be pressing the pause button to allow parents to be consulted before making her final decision.

It is vital that all of our children have the best possible start in life and that the concerns of their parents be heard. More than 20,000 people signed the petition calling for the plans not to proceed. While the pause is welcome, I hope that when the Minister begins consulting parents, she becomes convinced that the extra year offers a special child the capacity to address issues that he or she has and that might not be addressed in primary education but that can be addressed, perhaps in a better way, in preschool education. As the Minister is aware, many children on the autism spectrum and with other special needs have specific language and learning difficulties. It may take them more time to catch up and realise their full potential.

I have spoken to many parents who have been shocked. They work hard looking after their children. The idea that the special extra year that has been available to date would be removed and that a child with special needs might end up in primary school a year earlier is difficult to understand, given all of the planning that has gone into special provision and the fact that we were only recently able to guarantee - during the time that I was in government - that early care and preschool services would become available on a national basis to children with special needs.

I hope that the consultation process will ensure an outcome that puts the needs of all of the children first and that those with special needs are supported in every way possible when starting school and throughout their journeys through the mainstream school system. Every child is different and policy has to reflect the needs of every child as well as his or her parents and families, who are obviously the ones who know that child best.

The Minister accepted the recommendation of experts. Experts produce considerable advice and knowledge that is valuable, but they do not know the individual children. What has upset parents is the idea that the attention they have given their children somehow or other will play second fiddle to views of experts that, however well-intentioned, could in the parents' view result in a serious setback for their children, whom they believe need extra time.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Burton for raising this important issue for discussion. As she knows, I have great respect for her. I hope that I will bring some clarity to the issue, which has been the subject of much commentary in recent weeks.

Yesterday, I announced that I had paused a decision on this matter so that further consultation with parents could occur. This means that, for now at least, the over-age exemption will continue to be available. I hope that my decision will bring the parents concerned some relief. I encourage them to ensure that their views are represented in the consultation that will occur over the coming months, the details of which I will publish shortly. I would appreciate receiving direct representations from parents.

It is important that I set out the rationale for the original decision. The recent announcement of changes was designed to support the achievement of better outcomes for children with disabilities. The evidence is that children with a disability should start school with their peers once they have access to high-quality and inclusive primary school education. The evidence is also that they should become teenagers with their peers and transition to secondary school with them.

Over-age exemptions were introduced at the outset of the ECCE programme in 2010. At that time, the programme only operated for one programme year of 38 weeks. For some children with special or additional needs, attending preschool five days per week was not feasible. For this reason, an allowance was made to enable them to split ECCE over two years. An example of this is a child who may have availed of three days ECCE provision per week in year one and two days per week in year two. The child's total ECCE provision remained at 38 weeks.

In order to facilitate this, and in cases where the child would have been over the age limit for ECCE, which is five years and six months when finishing ECCE, an over-age exemption was approved. This flexibility was never intended to conflict with the legislative requirement to start school by six years of age. Children should be in school by the time they are six. The primary school system has a variety of resources to support children with disabilities. If children are not in school by six years of age, under the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, Tusla must be satisfied that the child is receiving a minimum standard of education in a place other than a recognised school. It does this by sending educational welfare inspectors out to the place of the child's education. This would be in addition to the early years inspectorate funded by my Department.

Since ECCE was first introduced, my Department has worked to improve the preschool experience for children with disabilities and to optimise their early development. The two main enhancements are an ECCE entitlement that will expand further to 76 weeks from September 2018 and the introduction of the access and inclusion model, AIM.

In the best interests of children, and for no other reason, a proposal was considered to remove the over-age exemption to the upper age limit of the programme. This was signalled last year but, in order to give longer notice, the planned introduction was delayed until September 2018. The original decision to remove the over-age exemption was made with the Department of Education and Skills. It was also done in close collaboration with members of the AIM cross-sectoral implementation group, including representatives from the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, the National Disability Authority and the HSE, representatives of parents of children with special needs and a representative of early years providers.

There was broad agreement that, in light of the developments in free preschool education and the supports in place for children in primary schools, the over-age exemption would no longer support the policy aim that children should transition to primary school with their peers. The decision acknowledged the supports provided by the relevant primary school, the NCSE and other bodies, as required. However, I am also conscious of the need to listen further to those with concerns. To this end, I intend to pause the proposed change and consult more widely with parents of children with disabilities and special needs.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Much of the Minister's answer deals with process. While she must address process, the critical issue is that many of the parents of children with special needs feel that they are being ignored, bypassed and not properly considered and included.

The Government recently published a spending review from the Department of Finance on disability and expenditure related to special education. Where is the empathy, understanding or the desperation to try to make things better for families of precious children with special needs?

When I came into the Department of Social Protection, there were major delays in getting monthly payments from the Department to parents of children with special needs. When the issue was re-examined with particular regard to children on the autism spectrum who, as the Minister is aware, constitute a significant proportion of children with special needs in schools, we had to consider the whole process, revamp it, redesign the forms, create an IT system and suspend applications for a couple of months. Since that process ended, I do not think any Member of the House has raised concerns about failures to give parents the payments to which they are entitled.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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We must conclude.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I want to hear the Minister say that she is going to have a rethink. A child with special needs may not be ready to go to a mainstream primary school at or around five years of age, which is what many parents are worried about.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Burton. I believe we are on the same page. In her response she indicated that her greatest concern is the process which results in many parents feeling ignored and bypassed. I understand that. Parents in my own constituency feel that way. I am aware of the number of people who have signed the petition and who have been in touch with many Deputies. I appreciate the willingness of Deputy Burton to raise this issue now.

My response is to say that it is important to consult parents. That is why I have paused. The overage exemption will continue for September 2018. We are currently planning how to engage in a meaningful consultation with interest groups and to place that in a dialogue with, as I said in my initial response, the evidence from which the experts made this recommendation to me. The experts involved not just those in my Department but also those from the Department of Education and Skills and the disability sector. I accept that expertise has to be placed in dialogue with consultation with parents. That is what I have done.

In the past, the ECCE scheme comprised 38 weeks, which has now increased to 76. We have introduced the Better Start Access and Inclusion Model, AIM, which, as the Deputy knows, is an incredible support for children with special needs. I referred to the development of inclusive policies and practice in respect of the Department of Education and Skills, which has responsibility for this area. I accept all of the Deputy's points. I think we are on the same page. I have made a decision. I hope that in light of that consultation, we will come to the best policy possible.