Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to come into the Seanad this morning. Education is of critical importance to children and young people but education is about more than just schooling, as many perceive it to mean. Education is a foundation for healthy development throughout one's lifespan. It means the freedom to think, create, play and imagine. It is learning about difference and diversity, and recognising the value of the contribution made by each and everybody.

For many children, however, school can be difficult. That is especially true for children with special educational needs and disabilities, for whom education poses all sorts of additional challenges. On occasion, school can be so difficult for young people who require additional support that a school can struggle to appropriately meet their needs. In certain instances, this can lead to breakdown in school placements, leaving vulnerable children with additional needs without an educational placement.

I want to be clear that I am not singling out our teachers, special needs assistants and learning support teachers for criticism. I am attempting to highlight the fact that some of our schools do not currently have enough resources to meet the needs of each individual child or young person in Ireland. We often hear disability rights organisations and activists speak of people being disabled by their environment. That is also true of children with special educational needs and disability in our educational settings.

In 2018, Deputy Thomas Byrne sought data from the Department of Education regarding the number of children with special educational needs and disability who had been subject to the section 29 procedure under the Education Act which allows for a parent or guardian to appeal a school's refusal to enroll a child in an educational placement. The data demonstrated that children with special educational needs and disability are disproportionately represented within the appeals process.Ultimately, this suggests that children with special educational needs and disabilities are disproportionately refused enrolments in schools and are subsequently expelled from schools in equally disproportionate numbers. What remains unclear, however, is the precise number of children with special educational needs and disabilities who have suffered a breakdown in their school placement, whether temporary or permanent.

Additionally, I am seeking clarity regarding the investigation processes into the breakdown of educational placement for children with special educational needs by the Minister of State’s Department or by the National Council for Special Education. I suspect the Minister of State may say there is a complaints process for schools which any family can use to make any complaint. This roughly goes that any such complaint can be raised with the teacher, the principal, the board and the Ombudsman. The Education Welfare Act creates section 29 procedures, etc., for suspensions and expulsions and there is forthcoming legislation in terms of the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill. Complaints procedures for schools give schools too much power. The schools control the pace of the processes which can take, at times, two full years to work through. As well as this boards do not have the adequate skills to meet the needs of special educational needs and disabilities students which they consistently demonstrate by allowing reduced timetables to persist and by refusing to open autism classes.

Furthermore, when a placement breaks down, the Ombudsman is seriously constrained because if the complaint becomes a legal one, his process has to stop and sometimes the courts will not allow the raising of an issue which the Ombudsman may have addressed. The biggest problem here is that it allows the child’s rights to be severely impacted before the State does anything. There is no proactive measure to stop discrimination or to uphold the Equal Status Act and the State is behaving negligently as a result.

Will the Minister of State recognise that it is morally unacceptable that what is on the Statute Book allows the same policy document which deals with a student who is bullying or harassing another student or teacher’s code of behaviour to also use the same process to deal with a student with additional needs who is not capable of being responsible for a melt-down which he or she cannot control or who sometimes cannot communicate using words? Despite the lack of statistics surrounding special educational needs and disabilities' students who were subjected to section 29 of the Education Welfare Act, it is clear that the Act as it stands is not fit for purpose.

I am calling on the Minister of State to provide us with the figures for the number of special educational needs and disabilities children who have experienced a breakdown in their school placement, either temporary or permanent, and that her Department begin the process of reviewing the Education Welfare Act in order to ensure that those children and families who go through the State system are owed the highest duty of care and are placed at the heart of the Act. I therefore urge the Minister of State to work compassionately, understandingly and exclusively with special educational needs and disabilities' children and their families to find out what they require in order for their needs to be met.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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It is my belief that children with special educational needs should receive their education in placements which are appropriate to their needs alongside their peers, wherever possible unless such an approach would be inconsistent with the best interests of the individual child, or other children in the school. This approach is consistent with the provisions of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, EPSEN, Act 2004. My Department's policy, therefore, is to provide for the inclusive education of children with special educational needs in mainstream schools. The majority of children with special needs attend mainstream education with additional supports.

In circumstances where children have more complex special educational needs requirements, then a special school or special class places should be provided. The policy of the Department, to touch on the question of resources which was mentioned by the Senator, is to continue to prioritise investment in special education. This year €2 billion is to be spent on special education. When one is talking about a figure, one needs to be able to demonstrate where that money goes. This year we have 13,600 special education teachers in the special education system, which is a 40% increase since 2011. We also have 18,000 special needs assistants, which is a 70% increase since 2011. Considerable work has also been undertaken this year to plan and provide for specialist places. We are also opening two new special school and 269 new special classes this year.

The National Council Special Education, NCSE, has primary responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide. It has well-established structures in place for engaging with schools and parents. The NCSE seeks to ensure that schools in an area can cater for all children who have been identified as having special education needs, including those children the Senator has specifically asked me about in respect of the breakdown of school placements or of those that are at risk. When the NCSE becomes aware of a school placement which is at risk, it will engage with the family and the school to agree a plan to support the placement. This plan may involve training and support being provided for the schools from NCSE staff.

It may also involves the NCSE engaging with the HSE and with the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, in order to establish what other supports or guidance may be provided to a school in order to support that child because the joint approach spoken about by the Senator is very important. In some circumstances, the NCSE may also arrange for additional supports and resources such as assistive technology, or additional special needs assistance support. Additional training programmes or guidance may also be provided for the school.

It is important also to point out, and I am not saying the Senator is saying this, that transfer between settings should not be considered or categorised as a placement breakdown because often there can be a child in mainstream who is moved to a special class or school and this is not a placement breakdown but it may be simply in the best interests of the child to move to that particular environment.

There is also the home tuition grant, which the Senator would also be aware of, which provides 20 hours of home tuition per week as an interim measure.

On section 29, it allows for appeals against the decision of a board of management of a school to suspend or permanently exclude a student. Where a parent feels that a school has unfairly suspended or expelled a child from school, then an appeal mechanism is provided for. Everything that is possible should be done to ensure that placements for children with special education needs do not break down.

Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response. There are parts of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, EPSEN, Act that have not been commenced but there are also parts that need to be amended.

I obviously agree that the transfer from one school to another at the request of the parties does not fall into the idea of a breakdown. I refer to schools specifically set up for children with special needs who are then expelled because of their actual disability or special need for which they were admitted, for example, where a melt-down is being reframed as violent or as being an assault, when the entire reason they are in that special school and for the existence of that special school is because of those very behavioural issues. It makes no sense that we have a special school that cannot deal adequately with breakdowns or meltdowns of children. This is especially the case when it comes to the section 29 piece which relates to a completely different comparison.

I remember when working in the homeless sector a person was presenting with extreme mental health issues. Having raised these issues in the interview process and admitting to them, the person was excluded from the hostel because they displayed these mental health issues. I wondered was that not why the homeless services existed there in the first place.

I want to make the point strongly that when we reach the point where section 29 has to be used or there has to be an appeal, we should not be allowed to expel children for displaying the actual disability or special need for which they were enrolled in the school in the first place.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for her comments. I reiterate something which she will be well aware of which is that the communication between schools and the Department of Education, and more particularly the NCSE, will be crucial to ensuring that the child is in the right place. No expulsion or suspension should be unwarranted. It is important to say that there is that appeal mechanism available.

From the data I have, there was only one expulsion case in 2021, by way of judicial review. That option is always available for parents to avail of where they need it. The Department is satisfied that there are enough resources in place to provide that all children are provided with an appropriate education. It is my job to ensure that is done and that no stone is left unturned in getting children the wraparound supports they require in the various placements they may find themselves in.