John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy Haughey, to the House. The issue I raise on the Adjournment concerns special needs in education. Recently, I was presented with a case in County Kilkenny involving a child with Down's syndrome who attends her local national school. Following much agitation by her parents, she has secured 2.5 resource hours of additional teaching from the 18-hour allocation granted to the school as a whole. I am led to believe that from next year onwards, the child in question will receive only 30 to 60 minutes resource teaching out of the school's overall resource teaching allocation.

I ask the Minister of State to outline the position with regard to the allocation of resource hours. I understand from the case and some work I have undertaken in this regard that, until two or three years ago, children with Down's syndrome were automatically allocated a certain number of hours of resource teaching when they commenced school and that these hours were not subtracted from the school's overall allocation.

The Minister of State will agree that early intervention in the cases of children with special educational needs ensures they do not become a financial burden on the Exchequer. The decision to remove the automatic qualification for resource hours for children with Down's syndrome is a step in the wrong direction. Surely intervention would allow children with this condition to lead much more independent lives as adults. Any cutback in this regard is a retrograde step.

I understand Down's syndrome affects approximately 250 children in the general school system, a very small proportion of the primary school population. Perhaps the Government, in the short period it has left in office, will be in a position to reverse the change in entitlements made several years ago to ensure intervention in the educational development of children with Down's syndrome takes place at the earliest possible date in order that they can live independently in future. I look forward to a positive response from the Minister of State.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased the Senator has given me the opportunity to clarify the position regarding the provision of extra teaching support for children with Down's syndrome. As the Senator will be aware, the Government has established a range of teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs, including those with Down's syndrome. The professionally assessed needs of the individual child determine the appropriate model of response in each case.

Children with Down's syndrome are entitled to additional provision in school, either under the terms of the general allocation system for children with high incidence special needs or through an allocation of additional resources if the child is assessed as being within the low incidence category of special need. The general allocation system for primary schools was introduced in September 2005 in order that children with high incidence special needs such as mild general learning disability could secure resource teaching support at school without the need for an individual assessment in each case. All schools have been allocated resource teaching hours, depending on their enrolment levels.

A number of benefits are associated with the new system. It puts in place resources on a more systematic basis, thereby giving schools more certainty about their resource levels, facilitates early intervention as the resource is in place when the child enrols, reduces the need for individual applications and supporting psychological assessments and allows flexibility to school management in the deployment of resources, leading to a more effective delivery of services. The new system means that instead of each school having to make individual applications for resource hours for such pupils, an allocation of resource teaching hours is provided in advance to the school. It is a matter for the school to determine the pupils with high incidence special education and learning support needs who will receive this support. With the thousands of resource teachers now in place in our schools, each school has enough general allocation hours to provide its pupils with a level of support appropriate to their needs. School authorities can use their professional judgment to decide how these hours are divided among pupils to ensure all their needs are met.

This is a major improvement on the previous system, under which children with high incidence special needs required a psychological assessment before the Department allocated resource teaching hours. This time-consuming process often led to delays in children getting the support they needed. Learning support and resource teachers are now in place in all primary schools in order that children who need their assistance can get it straight away.

The new general allocation system does not preclude the provision of one-to-one tuition to pupils who need such support. A significant percentage of children with Down's syndrome have been assessed as having a mild general learning disability, which comes under the high incidence disability category. Thus, they are given extra teaching support from within the school's general allocation of resource teaching support. In circumstances where a child with Down's syndrome has other associated needs and falls into the low incidence disability categories, this may automatically attract an individual resource teaching allocation. Such applications should be referred to the local special educational needs organiser, SENO, by the school.

Far from withdrawing supports from children with special needs, the Government has presided over a dramatic expansion in special education supports. There are now 15,000 adults in our schools working solely with children with special needs. A fraction of this number was in place some years back. This complement includes more than 8,000 special needs assistants, compared with only 300 in 1998. The system for accessing supports has also improved through the establishment of the National Council for Special Education, with its network of 80 local special educational needs organisers.

Further improvements in services are on the way with the roll-out of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004. More than €820 million is being provided for special education in 2007. This is €180 million, or nearly 30%, more than what was provided in the 2006 Estimates. The Department will continue to prioritise the issue of special needs education and, in co-operation with the National Council for Special Education and the education partners, ensure that all children with special needs, including those with Down's syndrome, have the supports they need to reach their full potential.

I thank the Senator once again for giving me the opportunity to clarify the position on this matter.

John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)
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I understand the Minister of State's answer but there are several points I wish to clarify. He stated, "With the thousands of resource teachers now in place in our schools, each school has enough general allocation hours to provide its pupils with a level of support appropriate to their needs." I could mention several schools that do not have access to adequate resources. This statement would gall those who are in a similar position to the family about which I spoke.

I accept there has been a great improvement in the allocation of resources for children with special educational needs, as the Minister of State outlined. That is welcome. There is clearly a case to be made, however, for children with Down's syndrome. It is a condition that effects only a small proportion of the primary school population and which responds well to early intervention. The provision of additional supports in the classroom will ensure these pupils can live independent lives in the future. Only a meagre allocation of resources is required to bring significant benefits.

I acknowledge the progress made in this area. For the level of financial outlay involved in my proposal, the benefits to the State far outweigh the costs that would be incurred. The Minister of State spoke about upcoming legislation in this area. I urge that some provision be made to ensure students with Down's syndrome are assisted in living independent lives as they grow into adults. Only a small proportion of the population of our primary schools is involved. This small investment will bring a great improvement in the standard of their lives and those of their loved ones.

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will ask the Minister, Deputy Hanafin, to consider this matter further in view of the Senator's comments.