Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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This is the fourth or fifth time I have raised issues related to the incidence autism with various Ministers in the Chamber. I do not know whether the incidence of autism in Ireland is increasing or simply if there is a better, more detailed diagnosis. This is a significant issue for parents throughout the country. At its heart is how the education of children with autism spectrum disorder, ASD, is progressed in order that they can maximise their potential. There is a complete lack of a clear career path for teachers, many of whom train at their own expense by taking courses to deal with children with autism. There is no recognition of such training as a specific stream in education. Whenever I have raised this issue, the Minister for Education and Skills has passed my questions to the Teaching Council which is locked into a tight model in which it only recognises four streams of teaching: primary, secondary, Montessori and other, and further education. It is a rigid structure. The Minister is washing his hands of the issue. There is no mention of children with autism or particular special needs. There is an intense need. In my constituency there is a relatively high number of schools, especially at primary level but increasingly at second level, in which children are in ASD classes. There is also broad agreement to develop an ASD-specific school in Dublin 15, Dublin 7 and Dublin West because of the numbers of children who are effectively in part-time education and, in some cases, not receiving education at all. Even the Taoiseach has agreed that there is need for special provision.

With regard to ASD classes, if teachers are taken out of the general primary teaching stream and received no specific training, notwithstanding their intense commitment to the children involved, it may not produce the best outcome for the children.

As a society we are all in the process of learning about this area. We need to work out how we facilitate appropriate training for people who are going to take up positions as teachers in ASD classes or in ASD specific schools. It is for the Minister for Education and Skills to provide leadership in respect of the Teaching Council. I can understand that when the Teaching Council was established, this may have been an area which did not receive any particular attention. That happens all the time. Now that we know that this is an issue, we need to address how we are going to provide for recognition for people who have trained in the ASD area and how to provide the most appropriate and best education for children who have autism and ASD issues.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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On behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh, I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I recognise the Deputy's advocacy over many years on behalf of those with special needs. Inclusive education is a fundamental principle of our education and training system. This principle is put into practice in the policies of the Department and the Teaching Council. Under section 38 of the Teaching Council Act 2001, all initial teacher education programmes in Ireland that lead to registration must have professional accreditation from the Teaching Council. The mandatory requirements for accreditation are set out in criteria and guidelines for programme providers. These were published in June 2011 and revised in March 2017. Under these criteria, student teachers in all accredited programmes are required to undertake study in inclusive education, including special education. This applies to all primary and post-primary teachers.

The Department published Guidelines for Schools: Supporting Students with Special Educational Needs for primary and post-primary in 2017. These provide guidance to schools on the use, organisation and deployment of additional teaching resources for students with special educational needs, including students with autism. In addition to developing and reviewing their whole-school policies in the education and inclusion of students with special educational needs, schools should also be proactive in meeting the continuing professional development, CPD, needs of their teachers. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, support service delivers a range of professional development initiatives and support for teachers working with students with special educational needs, including autism. Moreover, all of the Department's support services, such as the professional development service for teachers, are required by the Department to have regard to the individual needs of all learners in designing and delivering CPD for teachers.

In respect of the school setting, the Department's policy is that children with special educational needs, including those with autism, should be included in mainstream placements with additional supports provided unless such a placement would not be in their best interests or in the interests of the children with whom they are to be educated. The greater proportion of children with autism attend mainstream classes, but some require the environment of a special class or special school. This decision is based on a recommendation contained within a professional assessment in consultation with the National Council for Special Education. The National Council for Special Education is responsible, through its network of special education needs organisers, SENOs, for the development, delivery and co-ordination of education services to children with special educational needs, including the establishment of special class and special school placements. Where parents have been unsuccessful in enrolling their child in a school placement, they should update their local organiser to inform the planning process.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply but it encapsulates the difficulties that happen for many parents and children in the current system. I appreciate that people within the Department of Education and Skills and the Ministers are trying to improve the situation but it falls down in all sorts of ways throughout the country. For instance, every year in recent years, as the Minister of State knows from his constituency, there is a panic when a child cannot find a place in a school which will accept the child because it does not have a special class or does not have the resources. The child then has to go to the SENO, as the Minister of State said in his reply, who will provide support for the child. That does not happen, and very often in Dublin 15, quite a few children are left with only a part-time or an inadequate education.

From the point of view of people who want to teach children who are autistic or who are on the autism spectrum, we have to recognise this is a specialised area of teaching and that the current setup of the Teaching Council does not fully recognise this. That is part of the problem. If a principal in a primary school is allocated an ASD special class, does he or she select one of the existing staff to take that? The teacher may be intensely dedicated, may want to do the best, may have voluntarily done courses but may not be particularly qualified in the area. We have to up our game as a country in this regard because when the quality of education available to children with autism or on the autism spectrum improves, the outcomes for children and families are very good. I want to have a dialogue with the Minister of State as to how as a society we go about achieving this.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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It is not difficult to agree with much of what the Deputy has said. There are three points to make. Inclusive education is a mandatory element of the initial teacher education programme, and research has been carried out on inclusive education in initial teacher education by the NCSE which recently published a report entitled Initial Teacher Education for Inclusion. Phases 1 and 2 of the report found that there is in general much good practice in schools around their attitude to inclusion while also noting that there is scope for further alignment between theory and practice, in particular as between the student placement and the university experience. The third point is that the Teaching Council is carrying out a review of the impact of the current programmes with a view to amending the criteria the Deputy spoke about and guidelines before the next round of accreditation commences in 2020.

In the meantime, the Department provides a range of in-service professional developing supports to teachers. The Deputy may not be aware of this but they have been in place since March 2017. The NCSE support service has a remit to develop schools' capacity to include students with special educational needs to promote educational provision. The review is of all the criteria we have spoken about. That will be completed before the next round of accreditation.

Without condescending to the Deputy, I know she has been a great advocate for people with special needs all her life, and I would be delighted to keep her updated on the review as the Department is updated every fortnight, I think.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I appreciate-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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No. We are finished.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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-----the Minister of State's offer and I accept it.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We are finished.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Can I just say-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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No, we are finished.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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No one would ask a teacher to teach a maths class at primary or secondary level unless he or she had some qualification. This is a specialist field where we need as a country to organise proper education so that we have qualified people teaching who are also dedicated to the children.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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All teachers have inclusion training.