Seanad debates

Wednesday, 16 May 2018

Special Education Provision: Statements

 

10:30 am

Photo of Paul GavanPaul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome. I want to begin, if I may, by speaking about special needs assistants. I commend the ongoing work and commitment of the Forsa trade union and its members, whose investment in this sector is second to none. I want to applaud Fórsa's recent announcement that it intends to establish a professional institute which will provide ongoing support training for special needs assistants. I think this is a really proactive move by the trade union movement, and shows its commitment to the sector and indeed to its members.

Currently, neither the State nor the schools in which SNAs are based are providing the desired level of ongoing training. Perhaps it would be appropriate to ask the Minister to consider whether he could provide public funds to Fórsa to invest in the workings of its new institute. It would be the sort of innovative approach that I would certainly call for. Fórsa's SNA institute will allow workers to underpin their experience and qualifications with up-to-date training in order to move a sector where precarious employment is still growing towards professionalisation. There is a core of 60% of SNAs surveyed by Forsa who have been employed in the sector for over a decade. However, of those surveyed, 82% still say that they would be interested in further training. This demand must be met in some way, and obviously Forsa feels it needs to step in.

As the Minister knows, Sinn Féin has consistently called on the Government to make a number of specific changes concerning special needs assistants. The State's record on publishing the annual SNA allocation in a timely fashion has been very poor over the last several years. In fairness, the Minister has referred to this. Each year, SNAs employed by the State have been left in the lurch as to whether they will have a job after the summer. It is just not a situation that can be tolerated. I welcome the Minister's indication that this year, I take it by the end of this month, people will know. That is progress. I need to acknowledge that. To be fair, however, while it is a step in the right direction for the workers themselves, the Minister needs to look for his Department to do this by the end of March each year to give people adequate time to plan. The Minister is clearly aware of the issue, and I would welcome a commitment to moving that deadline forward in future years.

This also speaks to the issue of job security. The level of job security afforded to special needs assistants is just not satisfactory. As the Minister knows, at the moment they cannot apply for new jobs because they may still have one. They cannot get the relevant documentation to apply for work or to prepare to do so, because they just do not know what their situation will be. There is no security and no certainty, and any steps the Minister can take to improve that situation, including an announcement this week, will be very welcome. I stress that SNAs have a relationship with their assigned students. We want that security and continuity to be there in order to strengthen their bond.

We also want to establish a procedure for schools' grievances to be heard. Last May, 558 schools were looking to appeal their special needs allocation under the new resource model. Their principals closed their doors for the summer not knowing how they would prepare for the following year. I do not think any of us would accept that as a satisfactory situation.

I welcome the Minister's Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016, not only because it will make progress with regards to removing the baptism barrier, but also because it will attempt to deal with children with special needs being denied access to local schools.The National Council for Special Education has found that several schools are using restrictive admissions policies to deter students with special needs from seeking admission. Some schools are telling parents they do not have the resources, and others are advising parents to go elsewhere for schools better suited to cater for their needs. This is unacceptable. I am sceptical about the motive behind these refusals. The Minister's Bill would enable powers to ensure a school would open a special needs class for children where deemed necessary. I very much welcome this.

There is a crisis regarding autism spectrum disorder places and units across the State. There are parents frantically applying to every school in their county to try to secure a space for their child. Some schools could be up to an hour and a half away from their home or from where the child's siblings go to school, but this is the reality for parents with children with special needs. Could the Minister outline whether any proposals are in place to deal with this issue?

I would like to deal with the urgent need for NEPS psychologists in our schools. I acknowledge the Minister referred to this in his speech. In 2017, 619 schools across the State did not have access to a NEPS psychologist for the purpose of carrying out an assessment. That is just shocking. It flies in the face of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004, which gives a statutory right to children to receive assessments in a timely manner. The schools need greater resources from the State to provide these invaluable services. If they do not get them, the State will essentially be forcing the parents and children into the private market to access services that they cannot go without. Those parents who cannot afford to have a private assessment carried out risk having their child left behind.

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