Results 261-280 of 1,074,383 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Niall Collins OR speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh OR speaker:Peadar Tóibín) in 'Committee meetings'

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Danny Healy-Rae: We all know that when a child presents with special needs and needs special assistance, it places a massive burden on his or her parents. The parents would prefer to see something wrong with themselves rather than their child. The Minister of State and I know that we do not need reports. We need funding. We need more specialist teachers and places and we need to speed up the assessment of...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I thank all the Members for their contributions. The report was published last week and is before the House this week, which shows the urgency with which the Government treats the issue of special education. The one thing I am always encouraged by is the depth of knowledge of Members of the House about special education and the challenges being faced by families and I compliment them on...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Pa Daly: This is one of the most frustrating issues I am dealing with in County Kerry. It is clear that too many children are being denied their right to education. Parents are contacting me about this issue, including, recently, one parent who has been involved in education for 20 years. Her other children have gone through the system. It is with her youngest child that she has faced the system...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Barry Heneghan: I welcome the publication of this report. I thank the Minister of State for the fast engagement with the issues I raised with him concerning north Dublin. I have one issue I would like to raise with a simple solution. One of the greatest obstacles we are facing in the delivery of inclusive education is the shortage of therapists. One of the solvable bottlenecks is the delay in recognising...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Carol Nolan: Special education is one area where we can see a lack of action and a chronic lack of supports for children with needs. On the publication of the EPSEN review, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, rightly noted that special education should be inclusive, equitable and, more important, responsive to the needs of all children. Unfortunately, what we have now is a system that is far from being...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Gillian Toole: Twenty-one years passed between the Act being passed and the report being published. We need timelines and they need to be speeded up. We need the use of data for proper forward planning and multi-annual funding to ensure services reach the children who need them most. I welcome the publication of the report. I suggest a review period of two or three years in future to keep on top of the...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Paul Donnelly: I have read the document and, to be honest, most of it reads as a list of the failures of the systems of this Government and previous Governments and their failure to ensure that children with additional needs get the help and support, and, therefore, the education, they deserve. I have experienced a number of key ongoing issues. I started working as a family support worker in 2001. I...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Keira Keogh: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, for all they are doing to try to move the dial for disability matters and children with additional needs. Fifty-one recommendations have come out of the review of 2004 EPSEN Act. Two decades ago, the Act set out ambitiously to ensure equal access to an education system that would recognise the...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Emer Currie: I held a public meeting about the EPSEN Act in 2023 as part of the review. Like anything involving parents with children who have additional needs, it was an eye-opening experience. I thank all the parents who have reached out to me over the years. The most important question we need to ask is whether children are given equal access to education by the system which supports their...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Verona Murphy: Some Deputies on both sides of the House missed their slots. I will take them in the order in which they appear.

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Erin McGreehan: I welcome the Minister of State to the House to discuss the publication of the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004. The report is an overdue milestone and a wake-up call. Now, 21 years into that EPSEN Act, we must be real. Parts of the legislation have never been implemented. The Ombudsman for Children highlighted in 2021 that key provisions,...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: I welcome the review. We have been waiting for it for a while. I do not want the House to be in this position again of debating legislation from 2004 and 2005. I do not want to pass legislation that we cannot live up to, as we have done with the assessment of need process. There are timelines in the Act that the State is consistently failing to deliver. Whatever we do with this review,...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

John McGuinness: I welcome the review. I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, the best in office. I know he is committed to this area and will ensure that change takes place in the best interests of the children and schools concerned. While the review is being studied, there is no need for a delay or a waiting process. We have to respond immediately to the concerns expressed by parents and...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Michael Collins: We in Independent Ireland stand firmly behind the implementation of the EPSEN review report recommendations. The time has come for long overdue justice for our children with additional needs. We have seen two decades of delay since the EPSEN Act was passed in 2004, yet here we are with the core rights promised in law, like individual education plans and proper assessments, still...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Peadar Tóibín: The Government has had four years to produce a review of the 2004 Act, and God knows how much it has cost. Ultimately, it tells us what we already know. The problem is that the review of this Act is now telling us to review another Act, the Disability Act 2005. It is an incredible situation. The Government talks about the need for a legal, rights-based, inclusive education system but...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Verona Murphy: Thank you, Deputy.

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

David Cullinane: We have a long way to go, although I acknowledge the work the Minister of State has done in the area of additional classes.

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Charles Ward: I welcome the review of the EPSEN Act and many of its findings. Ensuring every child's educational needs are met is imperative. Education should be inclusive and responsive to the needs of all children, but this is not the case in many areas where children with special educational needs are unable to secure school places. I understand the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is doing what...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Brian Stanley: I welcome the publication of the report. However, school places continue to be a major challenge in County Laois. New classes have been granted and I welcome that. New posts have been granted, but accommodation continues to be a problem and there is no timeline for delivery, despite classes being announced. Schools are asking where they can put the classes. Offices, little school...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Ruth Coppinger: There are some positive points in the review, in that children who were appropriately placed felt included and that their needs were being met. It shows that if the resources were put in, many other children and teenagers could feel that. Unfortunately, I have to emphasise the problems. In the review, 60% of parents had experienced difficulty finding a place in an appropriate setting...