Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)
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In the last fortnight the issue of how a special educational needs organiser, SENO, makes decisions about the allocation of special needs assistants without the right to appeal, brought hundreds of people across the Inishowen peninsula in my home county of Donegal to a public meeting in support of the parents affected by this situation.

I wish to publicly commend and offer my full support and that of my party to these courageous parents. The huge attendance at their public meeting on Monday night last, 16 June, speaks volumes about the mood across Inishowen on this issue. The parents, with the full support of the schools across the peninsula, want the right to appeal controversial decisions by the special educational needs organiser to remove or deny the allocation of special needs assistants to their children. It is remarkable that one person can be given the power to overrule a multidisciplinary team of professionals and deny the support to special educational needs children that their parents and schools seek. What is even more remarkable is that this person is not accountable to anyone affected by the decision.

Of course, the impact of these controversial decisions is much wider than children with special educational needs. Teachers already trying to cope with overcrowded classrooms in many instances are left in an impossible situation of giving the specialised support to children with special educational needs while ensuring the provision of education to the remaining children in the class is not diminished.

For example, in St. Patrick's boys' school in Carndonagh, the review of special educational needs was conducted by a particular SENO on 16 June 2008. The review decision confirmed reduced access to special needs assistants for all pupils and the reduction in special needs personnel from five to three, and possibly further to two for the year 2008-09. At another school, Carndonagh Community School, special needs personnel have been further reduced for the year 2008-09 from six to three. That involves five to six job losses in the Carndonagh area alone, in addition to the removal of much needed care support from the pupils, teachers and families. The decision taken following the SENO's one-day visit and observation have caused much grief, exasperation, pain and tears for a school which has worked long and hard at securing and ensuring equitable treatment and access to education for all of its pupils.

The facts are that yet again, just as with the HSE, we are seeing decision-making and accountability being outsourced by Government. Rather than parents dealing with a Minister directly accountable to the people on this issue, we must deal with a non-Government body, the National Council for Special Education. This allows Government representatives to hide behind the body's decisions and failures. It is not good enough in a supposedly democratic society.

On behalf of the 350 people who turned out in Inisowen, I plead with the Minister to immediately implement in its entirety the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004, to ensure the right of these families and schools to appeal controversial decisions taken by SENOs.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I apologise to the House and to Senator Doherty for my late arrival. I was at another meeting. I thank Senator Doherty for placing this matter on the Adjournment. It gives me the opportunity to clarify to this House the position on reviewing decisions made by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, in the context of resource allocation.

As the Senator may be aware, the National Council for Special Education is responsible, through its network of local special educational needs organisers, SENOs, for allocating resource teachers and special needs assistants to schools to support children with special needs, and also help to establish special classes where a need has been determined. The NCSE operates using criteria determined by the Department of Education and Science in allocating such support. Since the establishment of the NCSE I want to put on the record of this House that it has enabled significant improvements to be made in the delivery of service to pupils with special educational needs, their schools and parents.

The NCSE will undertake to review any decision taken by a SENO on foot of a request from a school or parent or guardian, when accompanied by relevant additional information, which may not have been seen or to hand at the time of the decision. The NCSE has outlined this process in its Circular 01/05.

All schools have contact details of their local SENO. It is also open to parents to contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on the website, www.ncse.ie.

I take this opportunity to thank the Senator again for raising the issue and I thank the House for listening to the response.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Does Senator Doherty have a question?

Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)
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I am not sure if the Minister of State is familiar with the situation that pertains in Inisowen but I want to repeat what I stated in my earlier comments.

All of us involved in politics know that it is hard to engage the public appetite for whatever the cause, but when 350 people turn out to a meeting in a peninsula there is clearly a problem. We are dealing with a small issue in a number of schools but it has had a wide ripple effect. The system that exists at present is not able to deal with the issue satisfactorily in the view of the parents and the teachers.

As I stated earlier, the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act would allow a further method of appeal and, if implemented in full, would get away from this idea where we would reach this stage in the first place. Many SENOs throughout the State are doing an excellent job. Unfortunately, there is an issue in this regard in Inisowen and I would ask the Minister of State to take that on board.

While it is not a question, I ask the Minister of State to also listen to the comments that I have made on this matter. I am supported in this from across the political divide, from Government representatives to ourselves in Sinn Féin, Fine Gael and others. It is an issue at the heart of education, particularly for children with special educational needs. I ask the Minister of State to take that on board and to look at the problem to see if there is anything that can be done at Government level.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I fully appreciate what can happen at public meetings and the desire of members of the public to have their case heard. Senator Doherty has dealt with that in terms of the adequate way in which he has put forward that case here this evening using the Seanad and this Adjournment debate. The Senator need be in no doubt that I will bring this matter to the attention of the Minister concerned.

Again, I refer him to what is contained in the reply in terms of the appeal that can be processed by guardians, parents, teachers and so on. That appeal mechanism should be used and I encourage the Senator to do so. However, I acknowledge the facts of the case the Senator presented and assure him I will bring them to the attention of the Minister concerned. I thank him for raising the matter.