Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Teastaíonn uaim ceist a ardú ar luaigh mé ar an Ord Gnó sa Teach seo ar 6 Feabhra. I raise an issue which I mentioned briefly during the Order of Business on 6 February. It is estimated that approximately 25% of students have special educational needs of one kind or another. Legislation envisages the provision of individual educational plans, IEPs, for many of these children. These are written plans prepared for a student specifying the learning goals to be achieved over a set period, as well as teaching strategies, support and resources necessary to achieve those goals. The value of these plans is accepted and they are implemented across the world including in the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The Education for Persons with Special Needs Act 2004, or EPSEN Act, includes a requirement for schools to provide an individualised education plan for students with special needs. However, this section of the Act has not been commenced 14 years after it was passed by these Houses. The National Council for Special Education developed guidelines on the provision of individual education plans in 2006, which is now 12 years ago.

In response to a Parliamentary Question on 4 December, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh, told the Dáil:

There is currently not a statutory requirement for schools to provide a mandatory Individual Education Plan for children with special needs. [...]

However, all schools are encouraged to use some form of educational planning for the delivery of additional teaching, or care supports, for children with special educational needs [...]

My Department's Inspectorate's advice is that the majority of schools are now using some form of education planning for children with special educational needs.

Despite the Oireachtas passing a law requiring schools to implement these plans 14 years ago, this remains to be commenced or brought into force. The position, as the Minister told the Dáil, is that we are relying on the goodwill of teachers and the ability of individual schools to implement individual education plans from their own resources. This state of affairs changed before Christmas when the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland, ASTI, issued advice to its members not to implement IEPs due to a lack of adequate resourcing. A circular to its members on 18 December 2018:

In view of the fact that IEPs have not commenced under the EPSEN Act, ASTI members are advised not to implement IEPs or equivalents [...].

The ASTI is extremely concerned that in the context of insufficient resourcing and the lack of a sustainable model for the delivery of all aspects of the EPSEN Act [...]

The ASTI rejects the imposition of a special education needs model which takes no account of the time, workload and practical implications for teachers and schools.

I understand that the Teachers Union of Ireland, TUI, has given similar advice to its members. While the ASTI made clear that this would not affect any existing plans in place, this is nonetheless very worrying. How is it defensible that 14 years after the passage of the 2004 Act that IEPs have not been given force of law? How can it be acceptable that the teachers themselves feel that they cannot provide these plans due to a lack of resources? We are all aware of the seeming inability of some Departments to manage public finances in a prudent way, causing massive potential waste of Exchequer resources. It would be horrible to think that this would be one area that would suffer the downstream consequences of such mismanagement. I would be grateful if the Minister of State could give me any assurance today that that is not the case. I would be grateful if she could give me a response that goes further and offers more than the Minister's response in the Dáil some months ago.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this issue as it gives me an opportunity to outline the position on educational planning in schools on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills.The Department of Education and Skills recently wrote to the Teachers Union of Ireland and the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland to reiterate to them the importance of planning for pupils with special educational needs in schools and to note that provision has been made for such planning. Under the Education Act, schools have a legal duty to provide an appropriate education to all students. The Senator is correct to state there is no statutory requirement for schools to provide a particular form of individual educational plans but there is a statutory obligation to provide education appropriate to the abilities and needs of students. This includes people with special educational needs and, obviously, schools need to plan to ensure this happens.

Planning is a normal part of a teacher's work and planning tools, such as the student support file, have been created as a resource to help schools provide for their students. The Government has invested heavily in recent years in supporting our children with special educational needs, with €1.8 billion spent annually, which is approximately €1 in every €5 of the education budget. This is 20%, which is close enough to the figure the Senator mentioned with regard to those needing special support in our schools. I assure the Senator there is no mismanagement of funding and the €1.8 billion is being spent very much appropriately.

All mainstream schools are provided with special education teachers, based on the profiled needs of the school, to provide extra teaching support for pupils who have additional learning needs in schools. At present, there are almost 14,000 special education teachers in schools, an increase of more than 37% since 2011. This has greatly increased the number of special education teachers who have been allocated to schools throughout the country.

The Department's circulars 0013 and 0014 of 2017, which set out the basis for the allocation of special education teachers to schools, note the importance of educational planning. This is to ensure that children with the greatest level of need receive the greatest level of support. The circulars note that educational planning is an essential element of a whole-school approach to meeting pupils' needs. The circulars also note that in making allocations for special education teachers to schools, provision is made within the total allocation for planning and co-ordination activities.

Circular 0014 of 2017 for post-primary schools states the allocation for special education teaching support being provided for schools includes provision for planning and co-ordination activities required to ensure the most effective use of the special educational needs hours provided to schools for children. The extent of co-ordination time required to be used by schools will vary depending on the number of students requiring additional teaching support and the number of teachers proving this support. It is noted, however, that planning for the provision of additional teaching support for pupils in schools is an important part of the process, and that co-ordination and planning time for this has been acknowledged in the allocation. Schools, therefore, should be resourced to carry out planning.

Support and guidance for schools on how best to carry out educational planning is available from the National Council for Special Education support service and the National Educational Psychological Service. The Department's advice is that the majority of schools do carry out some form of educational planning for pupils with special educational needs. This is an appropriate use of the significant levels of additional special education teaching resources that have been provided for schools. The ongoing provision of planning should represent a continuation of the good practice that is already occurring in the majority of schools throughout the country.

I reiterate that no projects or investment in education, including in special needs, will be amended or reduced in the coming months or years because of another project.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for her response. I reassure her that in talking about the potential downstream consequences of mismanagement I do not suggest mismanagement of the existing budgetary allocation to the area of special needs in education, I am talking about the wider mismanagement of public money in the economy and, therefore, the lack of necessary extra and additional resourcing. The Minister of State made the point she estimates the approximately 20% of the budget, at approximately €1.8 billion, going to special educational needs is not far off the quota of students with special educational needs of one type or another. Surely, when we speak about children with special educational needs, we imagine there would be a greater percentage of resources and not a slightly lesser percentage of resources dedicated to their needs. Why are individual education plans in the legislation if they have not been provided? I am involved in the management of a primary school in receipt of resources under the special needs heading and I do not dispute there has been much investment in the area but why, if the legislation envisages individual educational plans, has it not been implemented 14 years on?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I reiterate that when we look at the figures we see that in the past seven or eight years there has been an increase of more than 37%. Although we still have more work to do, the Senator will agree this is a significant increase. We have the significant number of 14,000 special education teachers in our schools providing support to students on a daily basis. A total of €1.8 billion is spent annually and this is having a significant impact throughout the country.

There is no statutory requirement to provide a particular form of individual education but there is a statutory obligation to provide education to students appropriate to their abilities and needs. The Minister has already outlined that the vast majority of schools provide these plans. They are focusing on where there are clear measurable learning targets, specifying the resources and interventions used to address student needs. This is in line with the continuum of support process. While subject teachers retain overall responsibility for the provision of education to students, in most instances special education teachers will develop the student support plans. Teachers are working with their students and with parents, families and the school to ensure the plans are in place. The Department informs me the supports and resources are there but if the Senator has information to the contrary I will pass it on to the Minister, who will continue to engage with the TUI and ASTI to ensure children receive the adequate support they require.