Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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66. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress that has been made in regard to the proposed changes to the assessment of need process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58255/22]

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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The Minister of State will know that in October a lot of disquiet was expressed by school communities about the potential change in the AON process. I understand from her negotiations with the INTO that a pause was put on that process. I want to get a sense of where the process now stands.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. As he is aware, the AON process is provided for under the Disability Act 2005. Assessment officers under the remit of the HSE are charged with organising the AON. The Deputy will be aware of a court ruling in October 2021, which created an legal obligation on the education system to assist the HSE as part of the HSE’s AON process. That refers only to the educational component, as distinct from anything else.

The Department engaged with unions, management bodies and other stakeholders regarding the AON process and how it applies to schools. The Deputy will be aware that the Department and NCSE worked with a number of schools in June - I understand 17 were involved - on a draft of the documents required by schools to complete the education component of the AON. Feedback from the schools on the trial process informed the development of the form and guidance to be used in the process. Feedback arising from engagement with the schools was provided to stakeholders in September.

The Department of Education and NCSE have put in place a suite of supports to assist schools in completing the educational component of the HSE’s AON process. These include: detailed guidance; a short video for use by schools setting out how to comply with the process; email support; and a dedicated phone support line.

On Thursday, 27 October, the Department and NCSE met stakeholders and partners in education. The purpose of the meeting was to address the issues and concerns which have arisen in schools around the AON process and to work to resolve these issues. I understand progress was made and clarity was provided on a number of issues raised by the stakeholders.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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The reaction I and other Deputies involved in this sphere got was very negative regarding the new responsibility schools felt they had to oversee, the workload being imposed on them and the lack of expertise teachers and principals have in terms of overseeing the process, especially when trying to account for a child's disability, including motor skills. On that basis, the issue has been raised in the House. Various education partners raised concerns with the Minister of State and Minister. In fairness, a conversation took place and I understand from the INTO statement the process was paused. Given that the process has been paused, what status does the pause now have? Will the idea be abandoned, changed in some way or reverted to?

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I understand there are still ongoing conversations on this matter and there is a commitment to extend the trial period. On principals or teachers being overburdened, as Minister of State with responsibility for special education, I acknowledge that schools are very complex organisations, as I have seen in the school visits I have undertaken. It is important that we acknowledge we are very lucky to have effective leaders in our schools, a point noted in the chief inspector's report recently.

It is also important to be clear that while completing the AON form is a task, it is not necessarily one that has to be completed by the principal. The guidelines and video support are clear that this task can be completed by another staff member.

This mirrors the efforts that we have undertaken to lessen the administrative burden on school leaders in general. For example, we strongly encourage principals, in organising the summer programmes, to delegate key tasks to others in the school.

Regarding teachers, I do not have time to continue.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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The Minister of State was coming to the second point I raised. It is not just about the workload, but also the expertise. Every Deputy in the Chamber will appreciate that principals, teachers, special needs assistants, SNAs, and everyone else who works in a school community are heroes. They are often undervalued, the first to be criticised and face a great deal of negativity, but what they do for children of all backgrounds every day of the week is inspirational. If one ever wants to be uplifted in one's political work, then take a trip to the local school to get cheered up.

Regarding expertise, teachers and principals have told me that properly assessing the needs of a child is the role of an educational psychologist. A teacher or principal does not have the expertise, or should not be expected to have the expertise, to assess the motor skills of a child. The Minister of State was about to address this point.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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It is important to be clear on the purpose of the AON process as it applies to schools. The assessment of educational needs requires schools to take information about a student that already exists, usually in the student support file in the school, and make it available to the HSE via the NCSE. The assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning and teachers assess their students constantly using a range of formal and informal assessment practices. This is the information that informs the assessment of educational needs. Obviously, there are other elements to the AON process, but these are a matter for the HSE to progress. In short, teachers are fully qualified to assess their students, record the outcome of those assessments and use those outcomes to inform the teaching approaches.