John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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69. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will develop a centralised application system to schools for children with ASD and additional needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13889/23]

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to ask the Minister if she will develop a centralised application system to schools for children with autism spectrum disorder, ASD, and additional needs. If she is in a position to do so, will she comment on pilots that exist in this space already and make a statement on the matter?

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for the question. As the Minister of State with responsibility for special education, me, the Department and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, are seized in making sure every child with an additional need has an appropriate placement in whatever school that is. The Deputy will be aware that the NCSE has primary responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with additional needs. He will also be aware that decisions on the admission of all children to school, including children with additional needs, are a matter for each school in accordance with their published admission policy. Last year, we brought in the Education (Provision in Respect of Children with Special Educational Needs) Act 2022. The main focus of that Act was around the Section 37A process. There were also a number of other provisions pertinent to the Deputy's question, which included providing additional duties on schools, patrons and boards of management to cooperate with the NCSE in relation to making additional provision for children with special educational needs, SEN. This is aimed at ensuring all schools take a child-centred approach and are open to accommodating children with special educational needs.

The new legislation also provides for a potential additional function for the NCSE to manage and coordinate admission to school for children with SEN in cooperation with parents and schools, where necessary. This provision may be somewhat aligned to the aim of the central application system referred to by the Deputy. This new function can be used to support parents and schools in specific locations where there is high demand for special class places. This would involve the NCSE engaging with schools and parents to agree a process for managing the admissions process. It is hoped that this could potentially reduce the need for schools to have to consider a large number of applications for a small number of available special class places. It could assist parents who currently may apply to a large number of schools seeking a special class place for a child with a special educational need.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. There is a lot of food for thought. As the Minister of State knows, the scarcity of ASD places and other places for children with additional needs and special classes, notwithstanding improvements, which I wish to acknowledge, places huge financial, psychological and other unnecessary stresses on parents who are already stretched as parents of children with additional needs. I think the Minister of State will agree that the burden of application should not fall exclusively on the parents. I am sure the Minister and Minister of State are aware that many parents have to make multiple applications, which is the first point I wish to make. Those multiple applications may necessitate providing reports such as psychological assessments and doctors' reports, which cost money. The applications cost money. One parent in a group I met recently told me that the application process had already cost them €1,000 as they had applied to so many schools. Then, there is the additional issue of those schools retaining the data on their child, even though their child's application may be unsuccessful. Will the Minister of State provide information on any pilots of a centralised system working successfully at the moment?

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy made very valid points. This provision I mentioned, which stems from the Act we brought in last year, is somewhat aligned to the centralised applications system referenced by the Deputy. Given the complexities involved, it is a matter that remains under review by the Department but it is something the implementation of which will take time and will require engagement by education stakeholders. Any process would have to meet the needs of parents and support schools while also ensuring compliance with the school's admissions policies, as well as respecting the ethos of schools. The process could involve the NCSE establishing an advisory committee to review applications and support a number of schools to work together through the admission process for their special class or classes.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I detect quite a lot of movement. I met the Tallaght Parents Autism Support Group recently, who are grouped together because they all have children with autism. Often, they find they are applying to the same schools for their children. They are disciplined and resilient enough not to fall into the awful trap of competitiveness with each other if there is a place available. If there was a centralised application system along the lines I am talking about and the Minister of State is gesturing towards, it would mean there would be no competition between parents. There would be a centralised system that was independent and neutral, which are some of the values of it. It would also reduce the awful costs and stress of going through the application system. If I correspond with the Minister of State separately from this, will she consider meeting this group? They have a lot of useful and productive things to say which could feed into the kind of system she is trying to develop in tandem with the NCSE in relation to streamlining the application process for children with special needs.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that there is just one day left, I think, to input into the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, EPSEN, review, which may be an opportunity for the group. I have no difficulty meeting them, but if they want to input a more detailed submission they could do so through that and have their views heard. It is important that we ensure there is an appropriate placement for every child with additional needs. Some 92% of our special classes are for autistic children. The prevalence rate has increased somewhat, from approximately a 1.55% prevalence rate to approximately 3.11%. In Dublin, there are at present 474 special classes, 367 of which are in primary and 107 in post-primary. We expect to open more in September.