Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I wish to share time with Senator White. I welcome the Minister of State and the legislation as well as the work done on it in the Dáil. I was involved in some of the hearings on the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill held by the Joint Committee on Education and Science. Considerable work has been done on the legislation since then. As Senator O'Rourke stated, many amendments were tabled, some of which were accepted in part, while others were rejected. I hope the Minister of State and the Minister will see fit to accept further amendments in this House and to examine issues which were not resolved in the other House.

As part of my work on the Joint Committee on Education and Science, I visited Galicia in Spain with several colleagues to observe how similar legislation was being implemented there. As our visit lasted for only a few days, we saw only part of the picture but I was very impressed. The region appears to be much further advanced than us in special education needs provision and its legislation has been in place for a few years. It is much poorer than Ireland, unemployment, for example, is much higher, but has given priority to education for children with disabilities and spent significant sums of money on it. It appears to spend a great deal on education in general, including third level. We are moving away from our traditional approach of valuing education and need to return to that. Our success has been based on investment in education and the high value we placed on it. We must also value special needs education.

The system in Galicia was strongly geared towards the idea that integrated education is the best approach, which, to a point, is also the case with this legislation. The region has both special and integrated schools and experiments with a variety of approaches. For example, I visited a school for deaf children which has several levels of integration. Some classes are made up exclusively of deaf students, while others have perhaps just two deaf children. One child was the only student with hearing problems in a fully mainstream class. She had access to special technology which helped drown out background noise, one of the causes of her hearing difficulty. Galicia tries out various approaches, has different levels of integration and is prepared to provide the necessary resources.

I noted also that buildings there were very accessible. All the buildings we visited, including mainstream schools, were accessible. In one case, a special school and a mainstream school were located side by side and were integrated. Everybody benefits from integrated education. A child without special needs benefits from being educated alongside children with special needs in properly resourced facilities. A similar system should operate here.

We have many good special needs schools and the Government has made progress in this area but much more needs to be done. Recent progress is largely due to parents and teachers pushing for it. In Lucan, for example, an Educate Together school provides classes for children with autism. The Department, if asked what it has done in this area, would claim this school as one of its successes. The fact is, however, that parents had to fight to get the school. They barged ahead and made the school a reality which forced the Department to come up with resources. It must show much more initiative by providing facilities without first forcing parents to fight for them.

Yesterday, I listened to an interview on Marian Finucane's radio programme with a woman whose daughter has Down's syndrome and started school last year shortly after the Special Olympics. She said she was full of hope after the Special Olympics but has since grown disillusioned. She decided to send her child to her local mainstream school but one year later she and her husband are paying for the child's special needs assistant. She also said her child was not receiving sufficient resource teaching, which is wrong. Has the case been brought to the attention of the Department? If so, what action has it taken?

It is a fact of life in modern society that an increasing number of parents of children with special needs want them to attend local schools and be integrated into mainstream education. The Department of Education and Science and the Minister for Finance and his Department will have to grasp the nettle and acknowledge this will cost money.

Mainstreaming is a modern trend which benefits everybody and for which there are many reasons. People want it and it suits modern needs. Families whose children must travel long distances to school incur costs, as does the community, and are separated for long periods.

I agree with speakers who have argued that the legislation should be rights based. Section 13 should be revised to ensure that rights rather than resources are given priority. Has the Department determined the cost of making the Bill rights based? It would not be a bottomless pit. The Department must be in a position to produce an estimate of the cost and make decisions on provision on that basis. Following the local election results, the Government will probably embark on a spending spree before the next general election. Why not spend money on special needs education? It would be worthwhile and would stand to the Government.

I understand children do not have an absolute right to an assessment because principals are ultimately in a position to refuse them. This issue should be teased out in the House.

While it is very important, as Senators have stated, that parents are involved at every step, it may be even more appropriate to bring students, particularly older students, into the consultation process, provided they are suitable.

Some amendments were made on Committee Stage in the Dáil in response to concerns expressed by principals regarding the heavy workload the legislation will impose on them. The House must examine this matter to ensure the Bill is worded in a way that sufficiently addresses principals' concerns.

Similarly, the definition of "disability", while it was addressed in the Dáil, needs to be teased out.