John O'Mahony (Fine Gael)
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While we await the arrival of the Minister, Deputy McHugh, I wish to welcome a group of foróige from my native parish of Kilmovee. I am told that counties Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo are represented. They are very welcome and I hope they enjoy their day in the Oireachtas.

Maura Hopkins (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. As he will be aware, I wish to raise the very important issue of educational supports for children who have been affected by failings in the audiology service in community healthcare organisation area 2 and, specifically, counties Roscommon and Mayo. I have been working with the parents of several children who have been affected by this issue for some time. The parents, who have been through a very difficult time, have done everything feasible in terms of their dedication and efforts to get the best for their children.

It is very important that we have a co-ordinated approach for these children. I am not satisfied with the way in which they and their parents have been treated. As the Minister will be aware, I am very dissatisfied at the level of cross-departmental co-operation in terms of securing supports. I was initially involved in the setting up of a cross-departmental approach but I am not satisfied with the results to date. During the summer, the parents worked extremely hard to secure chair silencers for classrooms. We were told there was no funding available and that it should come from a minor works grant. It is unbelievable that there is no funding within the Department to provide chair silencers for children who have been affected by an audiology misdiagnosis. After much back and forth between the Department of Education and Skills and the HSE, we finally got approval for chair silencers.

Some children have been approved for one sound field system, but many need two because they receive resource teaching in another room. Some have been approved for two. There is real inconsistency.

The HSE allowed for educational psychological assessments to take place and recommended iPads for some children but these requests have been refused by the Department. The result is that applications are made to the Department, refused and appealed, and the correspondence then goes to the HSE. The Minister will understand that by that stage one is many months down the road.Obviously it is important that we support those children dealing with the challenges and difficulties of which I have spoken. It is critically important that we support them as they transition from primary to secondary school. I am not convinced, based on the evidence I have, that there will be long-term supports in place for these children. Their parents are not looking for extra supports. They have been let down by the State and have worked extremely hard since they received the letter of apology for having been let down. It is important that we support those children and their parents.

As a public representative in Roscommon I am very annoyed and dissatisfied with the way in which those children have been treated. I want to see a co-ordinated approach between the HSE and the Department of Education and Skills and for supports to be put in place as quickly as possible. I have reams of correspondence about what the Department and the HSE are doing but I do not have adequate evidence that enough support is being put in place. I know the Minister is aware of these issues but ask for an urgent approach to dealing with the additional supports that are required.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important matter.

Following the HSE look back review of paediatric audiology services in Mayo, Galway and Roscommon, officials from my Department and the HSE met in September 2018 to discuss special educational supports for the affected children. It was agreed that where the affected children had special educational needs due to a hearing impairment, special educational needs supports could be provided in line with the various schemes operated by both my Department and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE.

My Department agreed to review the special educational supports provided to the affected children, to ensure that they are in receipt of supports in line with Department schemes and that supports provided are based on the children's individual needs. The HSE sought consent from parents and guardians to share affected children's details with my Department and the NCSE. To date, the details of nine children have been provided to my Department.

As a matter of priority, my Department in conjunction with the NCSE, completed its review of the special educational supports in place for each of the nine children and has now ensured that they are in receipt of appropriate special educational needs supports in line with the terms of various schemes. Supports available include: special education teaching support in schools; funding for assistive technology such as soundfield and FM systems; and guidance from the NCSE's visiting teacher service on classroom adaptation and school staff training.

All children are in receipt of special educational needs teaching support under the new model introduced in 2017 and revised in 2019. The new special education teaching allocation provides a single, unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on that school's educational profile, to allow schools to provide additional teaching support for all pupils who require such support in their schools. Schools deploy additional teaching resources based on each pupil's individual learning needs. The visiting teaching service has assessed the educational needs of all nine children and made recommendations to their schools. In accordance with the visiting teachers' service referral process and procedures, children with mild or unilateral hearing loss are placed on the "On Request" caseload and children with moderate-profound hearing loss are placed on the "Active" caseload of the visiting teacher. The visiting teachers have assessed the acoustic conditions in the schools and made recommendations to schools to put in place appropriate measures to cater for the children's needs.

All nine children have received assistive technology, in accordance with the criteria of the scheme. With regard to teacher training, the NCSE can provide direct support to the schools and individual teachers in as flexible a way as possible. Schools can apply for support through the NCSE's online application system, which is accessible via the NCSE website.The NCSE offers telephone advice, school visits by a member of the team, in-service courses for individual teachers or whole-school training. Whole-school training will ensure all teachers are equipped to cater for children's educational needs as they progress through school.

Schools have been instructed to continue to engage with their local special educational needs organiser, SENO, and visiting teacher on the special educational needs of the children identified in the HSE review. Parents or guardians may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs using the contact details available on the NCSE's website. My Department has made direct contact with both schools and parents/guardians. A representative of my Department also met a group of affected parents/guardians in November 2018 and March 2019. The HSE and the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, as well as the NCSE, were also represented at those meetings.

Maura Hopkins (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his response. There are, however, several issues that I want to clarify. The Minister has stated the supports include assistive technology. I am in contact with many parents of children who have been affected. The assistive technology being provided is not adequate to meet their needs. I gave the examples of the soundfield system and iPads. School staff training is not available in all schools. Parents are seeking access to the Jumpstarting literacy course which would help teachers to work with children affected, but that has not happened to date. There are several difficulties in the provision of support by the Department. although I acknowledge some supports have been put in place. However, we are not dealing with normal circumstances. We are talking about children who have been misdiagnosed. It is imperative that every possible additional support be put in place to allow the children who have had such a difficult start to make the greatest possible progress. There are several inaccuracies in what the Department has stated about assistive technology and school staff training. Will the Minister take these concerns on board? Will the Department respond urgently?

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Education and Skills can only work on behalf of the children who obtain consent from the HSE. If there are additional support requests on behalf of the nine children, my Department will prioritise them. If there are other children identified by the HSE who require support or some assistive technology or funding, we can only work on the basis of consent. We will, however, continue to provide support for the nine children in question. If there are future applications, we will prioritise them. If the HSE identifies other children who need support and gives consent to the Department, we will also be in a position to support them.