Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I raised the issue of summer provision last week on the Order of Business and I tabled the Commencement matter on Friday. Thankfully, however, the Department released details of the summer provision programme yesterday. It is a great programme. In 2021, the budget doubled to €40 million, which shows the seriousness of the Minister of State's commitment to the programme. Unfortunately, there was a delay this year in announcing the programme and that delay meant 26 out of 126 special schools have said they will not be running the programme due to the delay. Last year, the programme was announced on 11 May and only €15 million of the budget was actually used.

What effort is the Department making to ensure that schools are incentivised to run these programmes? They mean so much to families and the children who participate in them. For families, it is some respite. The summer is a daunting time for the families of children with additional needs because they do not have the extra childcare, and for some children who do not have other friends it is their only social outlet. It is very important to incentivise schools to open these programmes. Perhaps the Minister of State will contact the 26 schools that have decided they will not be able to run the programme. Next year, perhaps the Department might be able to announce details of the programme before Easter just to give schools a chance to get their logistics in order. Schools are outlining to us the difficulties they have with regard to staffing, the pay rates and the late communication from the Department in respect of the programme.

There is a major commitment from the Department, which is very welcome, but we have to do a little more to ensure that these programmes happen. It might be the case that the Minister of State will have to mandate schools to run these programmes for children with additional needs because they do not stop having additional needs during the summer months. The barriers and obstacles before families do not go away for the summer. Having all this time off creates a huge amount of anxiety for families. Something could be done about it.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I note the Senator's particular interest in the area of special education in general. We were very pleased to announce this programme yesterday. There is a new package for the summer programme for this year. We have matched the funding from last year of €40 million for children with additional needs. It will also help Ukrainian children in terms of the inclusion programme.

First, there is the inclusion programme in primary school. It is a two-week to three-week programme for mainstream pupils with complex needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage. There is also a special classes and special schools programme in primary schools, which is a two-week to five-week programme. Then we have delivering equality of opportunity in schools, DEIS, numeracy and literacy camps, or campaí samhraidh, in DEIS primary schools, which will be for one week, and inclusive programmes for all post-primary schools, which is two weeks for students with complex needs and those at risk of disadvantage. There is also home-based provision where there is no school-based programme available.

The aim of the summer programme is to enhance well-being for children with additional needs. There are arts-based programmes, sports activities, music, drama and language development. Curricular subjects are looked at and there is obviously vocational support as well, particularly for post-primary children who may be at risk of leaving school so they can future plan for what they need to do.

I understand the Senator's point about encouraging and incentivising schools to participate in this programme. There are 4,000 schools, since the first time last year, that are eligible to apply. We listened to their feedback and concerns from last year and we are confident that there will be more of an increase in participation this year. Some of the concerns that were addressed were about funding. Schools were looking for funding for a programme overseer so we have dealt with that. Regarding preparation time, it is 4 May today which is the earliest the programme has ever been announced. We believe there is sufficient time for schools now to plan for it. There are faster payments for staff. If the staff in a school are not available to participate in the summer programme the school can hire staff outside, which should help.There is also an easing of the administrative burden on schools and greater guidance materials are also given in that context.

There are obviously enhanced measures to encourage participation by the schools, including the recruiting of final year students, which can be done for the first time, and they should be able to help, as well as the centralised application process. There is an online registration which is open from today for schools to apply to register their interest. There is also flexibility for the schools so they can run the programmes at whatever time suits them or split the weeks during the summer which, again, is feedback we received. This year, we had advocacy groups which were involved in the development of the summer programme so they could give us the feedback from their members as to what exactly they wanted. There is also school transport for children, and grant funding will be available if transport services are not available.

Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail)
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It is great to hear all of the details. I especially welcome the online application process.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Around the Ukrainian children, I want to mention that, for this year, schools will be supporting children to be included in the inclusion programmes. They are very focused on the individual needs of children as schools identify them. Language tuition will be offered to these children. The 16 ETBs are organising the English as a second language panels, which will assist these children. It will be of great assistance to Ukrainian children coming into this jurisdiction over the next number of months and, indeed, to children who are here already.