Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, I would like to convey the requests from the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, who are unavoidably unable to get to this session for reasons beyond their control. They have asked me to cover in their place.

I thank Senator O'Loughlin for raising such an important issue on behalf of her constituents. She has advocated their case quite articulately. Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for the Government. This year, the Department will spend in excess of €2 billion, or over 25% of the Department's budget, on providing a wide range of schemes and supports for children with special educational needs.

As part of these supports, the Department operates an assistive technology scheme. This allows schools to buy specialist equipment for pupils in primary and post-primary settings who have a degree of physical or communicative disability and need an individualised technological approach to assist them in accessing the curriculum. The type of equipment provided under the scheme is varied and includes audiological supports for students with hearing impairments, Braille equipment for children with visual impairments and computer equipment with associated modified software for students with physical or severe communicative disabilities.

There has been a significant increase in the demand for assistive technology in 2021 over previous years, which has resulted in the number of applications rising by 32% to nearly 6,500 in a year. All completed applications for 2021 have been fully processed. In line with our increasing investment in special education, the spend for assistive technology has increased by 47% to almost €3 million in 2021.

In regard to the application process, the National Council for Special Education, through its network of local special education needs organisers, SENOs, is responsible for processing applications for schools for special educational needs support, including applications for assistive technologies. SENOs make applications to the Department where assistive technology is required, operating within departmental Circular 10/2013.

The increase in the number of applications received by the Department looks set to continue in 2022, with over 1,200 applications received since January. Of these, all applications for audiology supports for children with hearing impairments and equipment to assist children with visual impairments are fully up to date, while there are about 190 ongoing applications for post-primary laptop supports. The Department is very conscious of the need to process applications in as timely a manner as possible.

A review of the assistive technology scheme and circular has begun this year and a working group has been established to progress this. The review will also include a review of the overall assistive technology application process. If the Senator wants to communicate the details of her constituents to me directly, I will ensure they are conveyed directly to the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan. I also agree that she should not have to ask a colleague to ask a parliamentary question to elicit some action in terms of a response.