Results 7,341-7,360 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: It is important we have fully qualified teachers to enable children to make progress. If all that can be offered is ABA, or there is an insistence that any other interventions used must be through ABA, the optimum environment is not in place to meet the full complexity and variety of need presented by children with autism, who need broad and multiple approaches. In supporting the use of a...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: As I have made clear before, and for the reasons I have outlined tonight, new, exclusive ABA centres will not be approved. However, the Government is committed to long-term funding for the pilots, subject to agreement with the Department of Education and Science on standards that will enable the Department to support them as primary schools for children with autism. The type of standards...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: Deputies may be pleased to hear that my Department's policy was recently endorsed by the first of the ABA pilots. CABAS in Cork was established in 1999.

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: Last year CABAS applied for special school status, to use its own words, "in the interests of their children being able to avail of a child-centered, autism-specific education and with access to the Department of Education's curriculum". They want to have fully qualified teachers and access to the wide range of supports offered in line with the Department's policy. Deputies may also be...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: My Department does not insist that all children with autism are educated in mainstream schools, as is sometimes claimed. We are simply working to ensure that whether in mainstream or special schools, children have access to a balanced programme, delivered by suitably trained staff. In this country we have a very strong commitment by myself and the Government to all children with special...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: It is not true to say we are trying to channel children into one system or another. We recognise that every child with autism is unique and different and every child has a range of needs, which is why we are providing a range of supports for them.

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: He will do that tomorrow.

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "recognising that: major improvements have been made in special education in recent years, underpinned by a doubling of investment since 2004 to €900 million this year and the provision of approximately 19,000 teachers and SNAs to work solely with children with special needs; the number of...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: A new package of extra resources — from higher capitation grants, to teaching principals and priority status on the building programme — has been made available to encourage schools to set up special classes for children with autism. This has supported the expansion in the number of such classes from less than 150 in September 2004 to almost 280 at present, with 40% of these set up in...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I thought we had all moved on from the restrictive scenario that pervaded when parents had no real choice but to send their child to a special school.

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I assure the Deputy that there are tens of thousands——

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: ——of parents all over the country that would take exception to his description of the inclusion of their children in local schools as a "social experiment".

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: As I have already said, I accept that a place in a special school is the option most suited to the needs of some children but I utterly reject Deputy Kenny's claims that inclusion in general has not worked.

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I hope that Deputy Kenny's insensitive remarks were just an unfortunate choice of words——

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: ——and that he does not really want to see a return to the restrictive and unjust policies of the past where children with special needs were sidelined from mainstream education. The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 has commenced with the establishment of the NCSE, the appointment of 82 SENOs and the establishment of local offices around the country. An...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: Given the scale of the improvements provided for in the Act, which amount to a significant transformation of special education services over a very short time, the legislation provides for its provisions to be phased in over a five-year period and to full implementation by 2010. I have said from the start that it was vital to improve the supports available to schools before they become...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The members of the inaugural special education appeals board were appointed in April 2007. They are working to ensure that appropriate structures and processes will be in place once the relevant sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act, which would allow appeals to be undertaken, are commenced. This is important work that must take place before the new...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The Act is, therefore, being implemented on the phased basis that was specifically provided for in the legislation as voted for in this House. There has been no delay. Much of the Act has been implemented and the rest of it will be in place by October 2010. By that time, special education in this country will have been revolutionised and children will have a world-class level of service...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: Autism was first recognised as a specific special educational need in Ireland in 1998. Since then, we have worked hard to put in place a proper continuum of services for children with autism from age two and a half upwards. This has not been easy, given the historical lack of appropriate services for such children. However, considerable progress has been made. To prioritise early...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: Children up to the age of three are now entitled to ten hours of home tuition per week, increasing to 20 hours per week once the child is three years of age. Some 23 autism-specific preschools have also been established. The expansion of this preschool network is a priority for us for the coming years. Services for school-age children with autism have been dramatically transformed for the...