Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

This Bill comes here after rigorous scrutiny in the other House. After substantial debates on Committee and Report Stages, where over 700 amendments were moved, the Minister for Education and Science believes that this Bill represents the best possible solution to the needs of children with disabilities and their parents. What is proposed here is a comprehensive system to address their rights to an education comparable to that available to their peers who do not have special educational needs. When this Bill is enacted we will be a lot closer to the realisation of a system of education which properly reflects the rights of children enshrined in the Constitution. This system will be one which will, in the words of the High Court judgment, allow children with special educational needs to make the best possible use of their inherent and potential capabilities, physical, mental and moral, however limited these capacities might be.

These proposals will mean a continuation of the unprecedented levels of investment in special needs education, an undertaking that children with disabilities will as far as possible be educated in a mainstream setting, and a guarantee for parents that their children will get the education they need. In addition, parents will be involved at every step and they will have an appeals process with real teeth. On the enactment and commencement of the Bill, children with special educational needs arising from an educational disability will have a right to an assessment, a right to an individual education plan and a right to have the plan implemented with all the services required. Parents will have a right to be involved and consulted at every stage of their child's development.

The right of the child and parents to services is copperfastened by the right of appeal to the Special Education Appeals Board against any incorrect or inadequate statement or description contained in his or her education plan and against any failure by a school or health board to implement any part of the plan. For the first time the Bill provides that the Ministers for Education and Science and for Finance will have statutory duties to consider the requirements for funding, education and support services for children with special educational needs and to make adequate resources available to discharge the State's duties to these children. In section 13 there is an acknowledgement of the constitutional duty of the State to ensure the equal and fair treatment of all children so that children with special educational needs have the same opportunities as children without disabilities.

The Bill requires the Minister and the Minister for Finance to be mindful of this requirement in particular when determining how resources are to be allocated. This represents a revolution in the way resources are to be made available for special educational needs and is the first time that primary legislation has dictated so directly how resources are to be allocated to a specific need such as this one. The availability of services and health and education professionals to provide them will depend on a range of factors. It is anticipated that full implementation will require a number of years. It will be a function of the National Council for Special Education to advise the Minister on the pace of implementation. The Bill provides that all its provisions must be fully implemented within five years.

There has been significant developments in the funding of special needs from the Department of Education and Science. As Senators will know, the Minister for Education and Science recently announced the creation of 350 new teaching posts in the special education area. This is part of a new system for the allocation of resource teachers which has been agreed with the education partners. This system involves a general weighted allocation being given annually to all schools on the basis of their pupil numbers. This weighted allocation will cater for pupils requiring learning support as well as pupils in the less acute disability categories of borderline, mild and mild general learning disability and dyslexia.

Schools will also be given specific teacher allocations for children with more acute disabilities in accordance with the current criteria. This will enable the Department of Education and Science to provide a more efficient and speedy response to schools and their pupils. By the same token, schools will be able to plan and deploy resources more effectively. For the disability categories in question, it will put resources permanently in place thereby providing a genuine automatic response.

The Bill has many features which will directly affect the way children with special needs and their parents deal with the education system, from diagnosis and assessment through to provisions to deal with the transition from youth to adulthood. At the heart of the system is the premise that every child with special needs will be educated in an integrated and inclusive setting unless this would not be in the best interests of the child or the effective provision of education for other children. This will not only benefit the child in question, but will also help to create greater understanding of disability within the entire school and in the broader community.

Schools will have a range of new duties in respect of children with special educational needs. They must respect the principle of inclusive education; ensure that parents are consulted regarding their child's needs; co-operate with the National Council for Special Education; ensure that teachers are aware of the special educational needs of the students and the importance of identifying children with those needs; and inculcate in students an awareness of the needs of people with disabilities.

A key feature of the Bill is the drawing up of education plans tailored to meet the educational needs of children with special educational needs. Through the planning process, disabilities can be identified, needs assessed, goals decided upon and progress monitored. Where a school principal believes that a child is not benefiting from the regular education programme, he or she must take measures to meet the child's needs. If these measures do not succeed, the principal must consult the parents and arrange for an assessment of the child. School based assessments must be completed no later than three months from the time the principal formed his or her opinion about the child. Where an assessment establishes that a child has special needs, the principal must ensue an individual education plan is prepared within one month and that, in preparing the plan, the parents, special educational needs organiser and any other relevant person is consulted.

It is intended that a school will draw up the plan where the child's needs are relatively uncomplicated. However, the principal and his or her staff will be able to call on the assistance of a special educational needs organiser. A formal planning process will be undertaken by the National Council for Special Education for children whose needs are more complex. In the case of a plan prepared by the council, a special educational needs organiser will convene a team of people which must include the child's parents and may also involve the child, school principal and a psychologist. While the plan focuses on educational needs, it must have regard to any other needs identified in the child's assessment and must be consistent with those needs.

Education plans will be reviewed at regular intervals. Schools have the primary responsibility for this and must report on it to the child's parents and the council. If the special educational needs organiser takes the view that goals in the plan are not being achieved, the team may be reconvened to review and, where necessary, amend the plan.

The provision of appropriate education services to children with special educational needs involves close co-operation and co-ordination of activities between education and health authorities. The health boards have a key role to play in providing support services such as the various therapies which those concerned need. Children and others with disabilities often reside in health board facilities or attend day care services. The Bill is intended to resolve current difficulties in co-ordination between the health and education sectors. In addition, the National Council for Special Education will be empowered to request a health board to take specified actions where it considers this to be necessary for the preparation or implementation of an adequate education plan or necessary, more generally, to assist the council in carrying out its functions.

Between publication and the start of the debates in the Oireachtas, a wide range of groups interested in the education of young people with disabilities and special educational needs has been consulted. As a result of that process and following careful consideration of the views of Members of the Lower House, as expressed there on Second Stage, a number of amendments were tabled on Committee Stage. The debate on Committee Stage was comprehensive and members of the Select Committee on Education and Science made a substantial number of suggestions for amendments. Those suggestions formed the basis for the vast bulk of the 70 amendments submitted by the Minister on Report Stage.

The most obvious change to the Bill is that its Title has changed from the Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill to the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill. This is reflected in a new definition of special educational needs, which has removed what was seen by some as negative phraseology in the Bill. The debate on the Bill so far has convinced me that this change will greatly improve the Bill and promote the Minister's wish that special needs education should, as far as possible, take place in the mainstream. This view has been reinforced by submissions made by many interest groups, of which I am sure Senators are well aware.

Concern was expressed in some quarters that the Bill as originally drafted would not encompass those with certain conditions, such as dyslexia, ADD and ADHD. On reflection, I felt there was much to be gained by disposing of the usual definition of disability applied in legislation and to work to the more appropriate concept of special educational needs.

In a similar vein, the Minister agreed, when it was put to him on Committee Stage, that a reference to children failing to meet the goals expected of them was an inappropriate concept and that where there is a failure in the process, it may be caused by many factors. These may relate not to the child, but rather to the plan itself.

The Lower House has also made changes to the time limits for assessments, education plans and the appeals system to ensure that each child can avail of his or her rights without undue delay. As part of the discussions on Committee Stage, we agreed to look at the timescales in the original version of the Bill with a view to tightening them up. Significant improvements have been made to provide parents with a degree of certainty about the time to be taken at each step of the processes described in the Bill.

Section 38 introduces a new concept of mediation to special education litigation. This will do much to ease the burden on parents who feel compelled to take proceedings to ensure the rights of their children to an education under statute and the Constitution. There has been a dramatic growth in such cases and while I regret that parents feel compelled to take such measures, I respect their absolute right to do so. Nothing in this Bill will diminish the right of parents to seek redress before the courts where they feel that their rights and the rights of their children have not been given full expression.

The new process introduced by this amendment will give parents and the State parties an opportunity to air their respective positions and to seek to reach agreement without the need for an expensive and time consuming court action. As a bolster to this process, if either side refuses to take part or does so in an obstructive manner, the courts will be entitled to take that into account in dealing with later issues as to costs but not, I emphasise, regarding the substantive issues in the case. This will encourage the parties to reach an early compromise to ensure the welfare of the child and will also ensure that more of the resources available to the system can be used directly for the benefit of children with special needs, rather than finding their way into the lawyers' pockets.

In conjunction with the Comhairle (Amendment) Bill and the Disability Bill, the Education for Persons with Special Education Needs Bill will be a vital component in tackling disadvantage resulting from disability. It will address, once and for all, the gaps in our education system. I look forward to completing the legislative process as soon as possible and getting on with the work of implementation.

The Bill will, for the first time, set down a legislative framework within which the constitutional rights of children with special needs will be guaranteed. It will ensure that all children with special needs get the services they deserve and to which they are entitled. It will help to provide them with greater opportunities to participate in society. I thank Senators for dealing with the Bill and I look forward to the forthcoming debate.