Dáil debates

Tuesday, 16 May 2023

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions

Special Educational Needs

7:25 pm

Photo of Sorca ClarkeSorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

53. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the engagement her Department has had with the relevant stakeholders and the additional steps that will be taken this year to ensure that all children with special educational needs have an appropriate school place this September. [22505/23]

Photo of Sorca ClarkeSorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Last June, a report by the Ombudsman for Children's office stated that it was his view that any failure to include children with special educational needs, SEN, within the mainstream school system for any reason other than to facilitate their effect education constitutes discrimination. What engagement has the Department had with relevant stakeholders and what additional steps will be taken this year to ensure that all children with special educational needs have an appropriate school place for the coming September?

Photo of Josepha MadiganJosepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her question. It is of huge importance to me, as Minister of State with responsibility for special education. I concur with what the Deputy says by virtue of the fact that all children, particularly children with additional needs, should have an appropriate placement, whether in a mainstream class, in a special class or, indeed, in a special school.

Ninety-eight per cent of children with special educational needs attend mainstream settings, which is good. However, there are obviously children with more complex needs who need more appropriate provision, whether in a special class or in a special school.

Over the last number of years, we have brought in a number of different initiatives to make sure no child with an additional need is left without an appropriate placement. As the Deputy will know, we have a budget of €2.6 billion. That is 27% of the entire education budget and a 10% increase on last year. That provides funding for SEN in mainstream, for special classes, special school places and for special education teachers. We had funding for over 600 such teachers in the budget and 1,194 SNAs. Over the last three years we have sanctioned 600 special class places at primary level and 300 special class places at post-primary level. Within the next few months we will have opened seven special schools in the last three years. That will demonstrate to the Deputy the progress we have made since this role as Minister of State for special education was created. The Minister for Education and I announced on 12 April that two new special schools will be opened, one in Carrigtwohill in east Cork and the other in Dublin 7. There will also be further capacity in 11 other special schools nationwide.

That is a brief overview of the figures, data and statistics. However, it is also important that we put our focus on forward planning into the future so we never have a situation where a child is left without an appropriate placement. We managed to do that last year and we will also do it this year.

7:35 pm

Photo of Sorca ClarkeSorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I think we can all agree that the scenes last year of desperate parents begging and pleading for their child to have access to what is a very basic right, namely, a school place, was utterly disgraceful. In my constituency, parents whose children had autism took to the streets with placards in desperation. Athlone Community College then had an additional class opened to accommodate six children. That does not mean we are not going to have a situation again this year where children are forced to travel outside of their towns, away from their peers, for no other reason than they have a special educational need. This has always been a challenging situation - let us be honest and fair and say that truthfully - but the Department has made that challenging situation almost impossible for parents. Again this year we are seeing parents taking to local radio or national newspapers, desperately pleading for that help for their child. There is one particular man, Damien and his son Evan, who I read about in the newspaper only last week. Based on contact I have had with parents the length and breadth of the country, these are not isolated incidents. This is simply down to a lack of the planning the Minister of State spoke of but it is the most vulnerable children in our society who are paying the price for that.

Photo of Josepha MadiganJosepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I can reassure the Deputy that as Minister of State with responsibility for special education I absolutely do not want to see children or parents, or indeed school staff, out with placards trying to obtain an appropriate placement for their child. Parents should in the first instance contact their local special educational needs organiser, SENO, who will advise them on appropriate placements. It is important to note that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, was given an extra €13 million in the budget this year to hire an additional 160 staff, including SENOs, which will help with communication on the ground. It has often been the case that there is a placement available but that has not been communicated to the parent. We have made real inroads in making sure that communication is kept open. There are a lot of new measures in place. There is the automatic inclusion of special class provision in all new school buildings going forward. There is automatic administrative status for any primary principals with two or more special classes as an incentive. There is the stronger use of the geographical information system, which is absolutely key in forward planning to identify where there is demand and where there is capacity. In the Deputy's own constituency there are 33 special classes in Longford, with 19 primary and 14 post-primary. There are 53 in Westmeath with 35 primary and 18 post-primary.

Photo of Sorca ClarkeSorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am well aware of what exists in my constituency. I am also well aware of the experiences parents are continuing to have. I referenced the Ombudsman for Children's report last year. Today we read that of the 1,812 complaints to that office in 2022, education accounted for 30%. The report specifically references the many barriers children are facing in education, and special education in particular. The Minister of State mentioned SENOs and the NCSE. There is not a parent of a child with additional needs that I know of who is not well aware of those entities and in constant contact with them.

The public consultation on the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, EPSEN, Act recently finished. The Department spoke of engaging with schools, parent groups, student organisations and so on. Will the Minister of State commit to publishing an interim report on the review of the EPSEN Act? Will she also commit to implementing, in a timely fashion, any recommendation that comes from that? As we stand here today there are parents with children who have a special educational need who do not know where they are going in September. Their peers are talking with great excitement about new schools, new teachers, new everything and these children are sat there with no information and no guarantee they will even have a school place.

Photo of Josepha MadiganJosepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

For September of this year, we have already sanctioned 305 special classes and we expect that more will be sanctioned over the coming weeks. There are 197 sanctioned for primary level and 108 at post-primary. There are 2,537 special classes now in the country, with 1,798 at primary and 739 at post-primary. There is consistent and constant engagement with the NCSE on forward planning. There is a detailed review ongoing of statistical data all the time. There is consideration of improved data-sharing arrangements. There is always a review of the school accommodation capacity and a particular focus on special classes at post-primary level. We wrote to all post-primary schools last October and said that we will need them to provide special class places over the next three to five years, with an average of four special classes in each school. The Deputy is aware that there is legislation in place if that does not happen. Any child who was known to the NCSE was provided with an appropriate placement.