Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom an tAire a fháiltiú go dtí an Teach inniu. I congratulate him on his work. There have been many good announcements, but the old adage about the proof of the pudding being in the eating springs to mind. I do not know whether the Minister will be in situto reap his harvest, given that he might be in the process of filling in an application form for another job shortly. If that is the case, then I wish him well.

I will touch on a number of subjects, the first of which is DEIS, which the Minister mentioned. Fianna Fáil welcomes its reintroduction. We had been pushing for it. DEIS was introduced by Fianna Fáil in 2006 and has played a key role in tackling issues of disadvantage and social inclusion. As the initiator of this programme, Fianna Fáil sought the restoration of and enhanced support for vital educational disadvantage programmes in our communities when facilitating the minority Government. We are delighted that this commitment has been progressed by the Minister.

Schools serving disadvantaged populations that are allocated additional funding under DEIS, which are less likely to receive voluntary contributions from parents and their families, have substantially fewer economic, cultural and social resources than those in non-DEIS schools. However, more transparency is required, given that there is a great deal of confusion. The data that the Department uses come from the CSO, but the process seems to be shrouded in secrecy, with little information given to schools about what criteria are being used. The document issued by the Department gives no detail of the methodology used or any explanation as to why some schools are successful while others are not. There are no criteria whereby a school that wishes to appeal a decision can do so. This matter needs to be considered. Has the Minister any intention - I hope he does - of introducing an appeal system for DEIS and, if he does, when would such a system be in operation?

I wish to discuss to the new model of special education to which the Minister referred. I welcome his initiative in this regard. The cuts of up to 15% in resource hours for children with special needs have yet to be redressed. Some confusion surrounds the new model. Many in the education sector are unclear as to what exactly it means for schools and their pupils. To assuage their fears, they were told that there would be no change for two years, but I have been contacted by a number of school principals who at this time of year would normally be making applications to the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, for resource hours for children with various diagnoses, such as autism and speech and language disorders. As the Minister probably knows, there is currently no application form on the NCSE website and principals are being told that, if they send in applications, they will be returned.

One principal with whom I spoke recently had a conversation with a special educational needs organiser, SENO. She informed the SENO of a child with a diagnosis who had just arrived in the school. She also advised the SENO that she expected a few more pupils in September. The SENO promptly told her that there was no need to apply and that she should include them right away. That sounded good until he dropped the bombshell that there would be no new extra hours for these children. They would have to be accommodated within the existing bank of resource hours allocated to children already in the school. This is where a problem arises. The same number of hours will have to be spread around more children. One deduces from this that some children will lose out. Perhaps the Minister will examine this matter.

On top of this, principals are of the opinion that, in two years' time, the level of special needs in many schools will increase by a third or a half of current numbers. There is a feeling that the new model that is being touted as a move to a more "equitable" system - this may be the case - actually means that there will be less all round for the children involved.Can the Minister relieve people's fears and say that no school will have fewer hours for any new child that requires special needs assistance?

The other issue is the school admission policy and baptism barrier. The Joint Committee on Education and Skills and our colleagues here on it are doing some work on that. I do not know how far we are from arriving to a conclusion to this issue. Fortunately, in the part of the world that I come from and, dare I suggest, most of rural Ireland, this is not a problem. It is a problem in schools in this city and indeed elsewhere and we look forward to a solution being put forward by the Minister. I know that the Joint Committee on Education and Skills is receiving presentations about that at the moment, but I look forward to the Minister's thoughts.

The other issue is the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, which plays an important role in supporting schools and children in trying circumstances. The Action Plan for Education, which was announced last year, promised to hire 65 educational psychologists in the first quarter of this year. Unfortunately, this has not happened to date. The action plan that was mentioned some time ago talked about hiring ten additional psychologists in the second quarter of 2017. Unfortunately, none have been recruited to date. Some 199 schools, catering for 34,575 pupils, do not have access to a psychological service as things currently stand. Many schools that do not have an assigned educational psychologist are severely disadvantaged. Teachers are not qualified to diagnose. They need assessments and recommendations from NEPS in order to put in place programmes in place. I look forward to the Minister's comments on the issue.

Another issue I have raised on a number of occasions is the lack of substitute teachers. We have a severe problem with that at the moment. It is also noted that some schools may have no choice but to close because of this issue. Does the Minister have any plans to address this? Most of our teachers are moving abroad, having been offered very attractive packages in Dubai and other such exotic locations. That is somewhere that we are competing with and it is a serious problem in the schools that we need to address.

The other issue is the ongoing strike by the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland, ASTI. I know that some pupils are very concerned that those taking English are going to lose 10%. That is very unfair and I am sure the Minister would acknowledge that himself. Does he have any plans to address that issue so that those students who would be stressed enough with exams taking place will not have to worry about that?

The issue of Brexit creates many problems for this country. It covers every Department, but particularly the Department of Education and Skills. I am concerned about what effect this will ultimately have on us. What plans does the Department have for Brexit? What areas does the Minister see as threats to the educational system, and what opportunities exist?