Results 561-580 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Section 3 addresses the narrow issue of the functions of the principal in regard to the school. However, section 4 addresses the right of a parent to an assessment of a child by or on behalf of the health board or the council. That is a much wider provision. Section 3 simply addresses the position of the principal in the school. The subsequent provision relating to the special needs organiser...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It is an individual plan for an individual student but the Minister had advised it is not necessary to state that in the legislation. The effect of the Bill is to confer on all children who have a special educational need, arising from a disability, a right to receive an assessment, an education plan and support services where these are necessary to meet their needs. Referring to an...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Senator Ulick Burke seeks to insert the word "individual" and the concept of specific needs into section 3(3). In this regard it is important to consider section 4, which deals with the issue of assessment. Section 4(6) defines what is meant by assessment, which is the point the Senator is seeking to address in his amendments. It states: An assessment for the purposes of this section shall...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Section 3 deals with the preparation of an education plan by a school while section 4 deals with the formal right to an assessment. Clearly, the drawing up of a plan will be influenced by the vista of an assessment. The council is given power under subsection (8) to issue guidelines to principals of schools on the matters to which they shall have regard before forming their opinions under...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Section 3 of the Bill has a purely school context. The Minister for Education and Science undertook in the Dáil to examine all the time limits set out in the Bill, which he did. In a number of instances, he reduced the timeframes involved or inserted timeframes where none had been provided. Such instances included requiring schools to begin the assessment process within one month and...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I acknowledge that role. It is written into the Constitution and it takes precedence over any legislation. The parent or parents are the primary and natural educators of the child and no legislation enacted in these Houses can ever detract from that. It is important to note that we are dealing with a subsection that imposes an obligation on a principal in regard to the preparation of an...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It a truism of all jurisprudence that without a duty, one has no right. Somebody must have a duty and the somebody in regard to this subsection is the principal. We are talking about a subsection addressing the duties of principals. Those duties in regard to the all-important function under the Bill is the preparation of an education plan, but the parent must be consulted as a matter of...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: There is always a right to appeal the contents of the plan to the council. We do not want to have disputes between parents and principals if at all possible under the legislation. I repeat that the legislation must delineate in clear terms the respective roles of these parties. I fail to understand how in this legislation the insertion of this phrase will add to rather than serve to confuse...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: On the basis of my own case work, I am well aware of the issue Senator Ulick Burke is raising, namely the existence of a State psychological service under the aegis of the Department. I take it he is raising the point that, parallel to this, many parents have recourse to the private sector to obtain psychological reports, yet when they submit them to the Department under the present system...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Senator made a fair point, with which I am more than familiar. The Bill states: "An assessment under section 4 shall be carried out with the assistance of persons possessing such expertise and qualifications as the health board or the Council considers appropriate." We have made provision to address the issue raised by the Senator. Furthermore, the Bill states that those persons may, in...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: ——of the board or the council, include one or more of a list of qualifications outlined. The list of qualifications is not really material to our discussion. However, what is material to it is that we have given power through the council, which is an independent statutory body, to address this issue. There will not be a full stop at departmental level regarding who can be recognised to...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: They are not consigned to a dustbin——

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: ——but there is a current framework. We are talking about a revised legislative framework. I draw the Senator's attention to section 5(6), which states: "In carrying out an assessment under section 4, the health board or the Council, as appropriate, shall have regard to any relevant assessment of the child concerned that is available to it at that time." The right to have regard to those...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: All legislation speaks in the future tense, as the Senator is well aware. In addition, the council can actually specify that the report of a person in the private sector shall be the ultimate report on the matter. On the current practice in the Department, I know the Department is seeking to deal with all these matters with expedition. It does have regard to private sector reports but...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: If the health board or council refuses to accede to a request, the parents of the child have a right to appeal against the refusal to the health board. The council or health board should have the power to refuse a request for an assessment where they genuinely believe there are insufficient grounds to support the view that a child has special educational needs. If they had to carry out an...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As I understand the position, this amendment is no longer necessary. As a result of changes made in the other House to the published Bill, school-based assessments must also include a statement of findings as an inherent part of the assessment process and the timeframes that apply thereto. The same criteria apply to the different types of assessment in the legislation. There is no need to...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Ní Baile Lúidín atá i gceist.

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Dhein an Roinn Poist agus Teileagrafa botún ansin i bhfad ó shin.

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Blanchardstown became Baile Lúidín as a result of a mistake in the signage section of the post office.

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Jul 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The amendments in group one are amendments Nos. 1 to 5, which were made in the Dáil and are now submitted to the Seanad where the Bill was initiated. Amendments Nos. 3 to 5, inclusive, are technical in character but amendments Nos. 1 and 2 relate to the commencement provisions. The one point I wish to make on amendments Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, is that the Minister has endeavoured to ensure...