Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Dearey for raising this issue and I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills who is attending a meeting. I wish to make clear that the education of children with special educational needs remains a key priority for the Government. More than €1 billion has been allocated within the education system for this purpose this year. The Seanad will be aware that the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 requires that all children with special educational needs be educated in an inclusive environment with children who do not have such needs unless the nature or degree of the need is such that to so do would be inconsistent with the best interests of the child or the effective provision of education for children with whom the child is to be educated. The Department of Education and Skills therefore provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools that enrol pupils with special educational needs, including children with Down's syndrome, to ensure that whenever a child is enrolled, he or she will have access to an appropriate education.

All primary schools have been allocated additional teaching resources to enable them to support pupils with high incidence special educational needs, including Down's syndrome. Each school has been given such additional teaching resources under the general allocation model of learning support and resource teaching introduced in 2005. The new system was put in place in order that children with high incidence special needs, including Down's syndrome, could get resource teaching support at school without the need for an individual assessment in each case. It appears that a significant percentage of children with Down's syndrome have been assessed as having a mild general learning disability which comes under the high incidence disability category. Therefore, they are given additional teaching support from within a school's general allocation of resource teaching support. In circumstances in which a child with Down's syndrome has other associated needs and will fall into the low incidence disability categories, this may attract an individual resource teaching allocation through the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. Therefore, pupils with Down's syndrome are entitled to additional teaching support in school either under the terms of the general allocation model of teaching supports, if the child's educational and psychological assessment places him or her in the high incidence disability category, or through an allocation of additional teaching or care support or both if the child is assessed as being within the low incidence category of special need, as defined by the Department's circular SP ED 02/05.

It also should be noted that a range of educational placement options are available for children who present with a diagnosis of mild general learning disability, including children with Down's syndrome. The range of options includes mainstream school placement with support under the general allocation model, special class placement within a mainstream school, or a special school placement in a school that caters specifically for children with mild general learning disabilities. Senator Dearey will be aware that far from withdrawing support from children with special needs, the Government has provided for a dramatic expansion in special education supports. Indeed there are now more than 20,000 people in schools working solely with children with special needs compared with just a fraction of this figure a few years ago. This includes more than 10,000 special needs assistants, whereas there were only 300 in 1998. The system for accessing supports also has been improved with the establishment of the National Council for Special Education and its network of more than 80 local special education needs organisers.

I assure Senator Dearey that the provision of appropriate educational intervention and support for children with special educational needs will continue to be a key Government priority, taking into account the overall level of resources available to the Government. Once again, I thank the Senator for raising the issue.