Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 11 provides for a review of the new section 37A of the Education Act 1998, which provides the Minister with the power to direct a school to open a special class following a report of the National Council for Special Education. The amendment requires the Minister to commence the review not later than three years after the new section 37A comes into operation, and that the Minister shall make a report of the findings made on the review to each House of the Oireachtas within 12 months of the expiration of that period.

Amendment No. 13 is a consequential numbering amendment arising from the insertion of the provision in amendment No. 11.

I thank Senator Kelleher for proposing an amendment on Committee Stage to provide for a review of the operation of the new section 37A. I was pleased to accept approximately 12 or so of the Senator's amendments on Committee Stage. While I agreed to the Senator's proposal regarding this review, I advised that I wished to have this particular amendment drafted in conjunction with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel.

Amendment No. 11, which has now been redrafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in line with the approach set out by Senator Kelleher, inserts a new subsection in section 37A. Section 37A provides the Minister with the power to direct a school to open a special class following a report by the National Council for Special Education. The new amendment I am introducing today provides for a review of the operation of the new section. It requires the Minister to commence that review not later than three years after section 37A comes into operation, as I said. This effectively means the report must be completed within four years of the section coming into operation given the 12-month period. I agree with Senator Kelleher that it will be important to review how this important new section of the Bill will operate.

The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel has drafted the provision in line with similar review provisions in recent legislation. This includes, for example, the Data Protection Act 2018, the Gender Recognition Act 2015 and the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. Amendment No. 13 is a consequential numbering amendment arising from the insertion of the new subsection by amendment No. 11.

If this amendment is accepted, we will have a significant new provision such that where the National Council for Special Education identifies a need that is not being met, it can, having reference to a series of procedural requirements, require a school to open a special unit to provide for children with special needs. In the Lower House, there was considerable concern that although the National Council for Special Education has the power to designate a school to take a child, there can be circumstances in which schools may be resistant to opening special units. It was felt the power should be available as a reserved power.

I pointed out here that, to be fair to schools, the evidence is that there is openness to the creation of these special units. There were 548 in 2011 and there are now 1,304. That is a very substantial expansion. The power in question is an important reserved power that the Minister should have at his disposal to ensure no barrier is raised unnecessarily against a child in a way that would prevent him or her from getting the most appropriate education.