Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. As a member of the Oireachtas joint committee I can say there was cross-party support from the Government and the Opposition sides to waive the pre-legislative scrutiny. There was no disagreement on it. I thank the Department for the helpful briefing for party spokespersons on education. Every effort has been made to bring people on board.Notwithstanding that a quarter of the entire education budget goes to the education of children with special needs, that 300 new special classes were opened in the last academic year and that at least 315 will be opened in the next academic year - an increase of 600 in two years, bringing us to almost 2,500 special classes across the country - as the Minister of State has acknowledged, some children are not getting access to schools. Therefore, it is the correct action by a responsible Minister, such as the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, to put at her disposal everything to ensure that every child with special needs - indeed every child - gets the education they deserve under the Constitution and under legislation.

Schools are sometimes concerned that they will not get the resources. However, the 1998 Act requires the Department to provide those resources. For every class of six children with special needs, two SNAs and one teacher are now provided under the leadership of the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and the Minister, Deputy Foley. For secondary schools it is 1.5 teachers and two SNAs for a class of six. That is the correct course of action and should give schools some comfort. Senator O'Loughlin mentioned the interdisciplinary and cross-departmental element, which many parents are concerned about. For instance, the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, waiting list is a matter of real concern for many parents, making it also a matter of concern for the schools.

My colleagues and I listened to the debate in the Dáil. Opposition Deputies acknowledged that some schools are not doing their best to open these classes. That is why this action is required.

Representatives of Fórsa and individual SNAs appeared before the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. They expressed concern over contracts and terms and conditions for SNAs. It is important to get that part right. As I said at that committee, when I was the chair of a school board of management, the two school representatives on the board were the principal and an SNA. However, that kind of involvement in leadership within a school is not the experience of every SNA and it needs to be if we are serious about backing up the resources with the support for the staff.

This legislation provides that the NCSE may co-ordinate school places in certain areas. That would be a massive leap forward for many of the families I speak to who need to go door-to-door to all the schools to find a place when they are actually entitled to that place. In the briefing we received, departmental officials described this to me as more of a co-ordinating role. That is also an important part of the legislation.

The Minister of State has the support of the Green Party for this legislation and for the work she is doing. It is acknowledged that more resources are required, but 600 additional classes over the last two years is a major improvement. Opposition Deputies said in the Dáil that there has been a significant leap forward in services.