Síle de Valera (Clare, Fianna Fail)

Section 13 is unique in shaping the exercise of this discretion. If the Minister for Finance fails to make adequate resources available to the Ministers for Health and Children and Education and Science to discharge their duties under the Act, those who suffer as a consequence may have grounds for a review of the Minister's failure in the High Court. Section 13 provides an essential guarantee to parents by giving them the mechanism through which they can ultimately call the Government to account before the courts.

I reject absolutely the suggestion that the Government does not treat children with special educational needs as a priority. It is not credible as the number of resource teachers in the State has grown from 104 to 2,500 since 1998. The number of learning support teachers has increased by 300 and there are more than 4,500 full-time and 1,500 part-time special needs assistant posts. Senators are aware that a further 350 posts have recently been sanctioned. The National Council for Special Education is in the process of appointing 80 special needs organisers.

I recognise there is a delay in dealing with applications for special needs assistants in my Department. The new system for allocating resources, which was announced recently, will address the problem by substantially reducing the need for individual applications and supporting psychological assessments. It will put resources in place on a more systematic basis, thereby giving schools more certainty over their resource levels. This will allow for better planning in schools and greater scope for early intervention.

I would like to examine one of Senator Fitzgerald's many interesting comments. It is right that principals should have responsibility for arranging assessments and education plans. It does not mean that they will have to take on the task single-handedly. Guidelines will be prepared by the national council to assist principals and staff, to whom they delegate tasks. In more complex cases, principals will be able to call on special educational needs organisers to take over the assessment and planning processes.

Senator O'Toole queried the duty of special needs organisers to assist principals in their duties under the Bill, which is provided for in section 18. The inclusion of psychologists on the team preparing the education plan is provided for in section 8. The Senator drew attention to the fact that explicit provision is not made in the Bill for the delivery of services through Irish, where it is appropriate to the needs of a child with special educational needs. I agree that the needs of the child and the wishes of the parent are essential to the educational process. Statutory guarantees in the Official Languages Act and the Education Act secure the linguistic rights of all children within education. Children with special educational needs are no different in this regard. The most appropriate mechanism to deal with this issue is by means of guidelines issued by the National Council for Special Education.

A great deal of effort and resources will be needed to implement the Bill's provisions. In this context, a five-year implementation plan is not unrealistic and has received widespread support. There is much work to be done by the National Council for Special Education in delivering on the legislation but this will be one of the most important projects in the history of the education system.

I thank Senators for their contributions to the debate and look forward to continuing this process in subsequent Stages in the House.