Marie Sherlock (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, for coming to the Chamber. I am asking my question today from a place of utter frustration. We are all only too aware that there is massive under-resourcing and understaffing in our disability and mental health services at the moment. The northside of Dublin has the longest waiting periods in the country for an initial assessment. It is second only to Cork in terms of the waiting times for speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and psychology services. That, of course, has a worrying impact on children and their families, but it also has a knock-on impact on the education system. In the context of that shocking shortage of service, what is the Department of Education doing to respond to and cope with that situation? I do not believe it is good enough to stand back and say it is a problem for the HSE or the Department of Health because it is also a problem for the Department of Education.

I will tell the Minister of State about a 13-year-old boy named Tristan Shannon from Drumcondra. Tristan has multiple challenges. He has autism, ADHD and speech and language difficulties. He has attended local health services, first Summerhill and now the Central Remedial Clinic, CRC, since he was a small boy. With the support of his parents and his school, Scoil Chiaráin, he is going to make the transition to secondary school this September. It is a fantastic achievement for him. The effort to find that place last year was not without a lot of heartache but the family did eventually find that place. The family is now facing a fresh hurdle. They are trying to secure the necessary assistive technology for Tristan to be able to participate fully in school. In the parlance of the Department, he needs to be able to access the school curriculum. When we think about it, that should be a fairly basic request. There is a crazy situation whereby to get the assistive technology he requires, there must be reports generated within the children's disability network team, CDNT, either by a psychologist or an occupational therapist who, in turn, sends that report to the special educational needs organiser, SENO, who, in turn, sends it to the Department of Education. Because the local CDNT, the CRC, does not have the resources or wherewithal to produce that report, Tristan is being prevented from securing the assistive technology he very much needs.

We have engaged with the HSE locally about this issue. Its response is either to get the report done privately or to get a resource teacher within his school to conduct what is called a detailed assessment of speed of handwriting, DASH. The school could go away and spend a few hundred euro to get the software to conduct the test, but who is going to complete the report? Circular No. 0010/2013 clearly stipulates that the report must come from a relevant professional, such as an educational psychologist, occupational therapist or speech and language therapist.

There is a logjam here. What is the Department of Education going to do? We know there are horrendous resourcing issues within the system. There are thousands of children looking to access services. Indeed, Tristan himself has been waiting for many months for the services he needs from the CRC. My question for the Minister of State regards the basic issue of assistive technology.To be honest, that issue should be easily fixable. Tristan has made enormous progress in his life. He started off in an autism class and made the transition to a mainstream class, albeit with an adapted curriculum. He has made great progress, however. We need this child to be able to go on and thrive within a secondary school. It is simply not good enough. It is simply unacceptable that this small issue of securing the assistive technology is held up because the health services cannot produce a report. I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's response today.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator very much for raising this matter. It is right that she is here to advocate on behalf of Tristan. I certainly want to do everything to help children like Tristan achieve what they can achieve. I am not the Minister with responsibility for this area, although that responsibility lies with the Department of Education. The answer may not give the Senator all the information she needs but I will certainly take up directly within the Department the issue she raised. I realise its importance and that it needs to be dealt with. Children need to be able to achieve their full potential. The answer that will be given is a general answer and is not specific, obviously, to Tristan.

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for the Government. This year, the Department will spend in excess of €2 billion or more than 25% of our budget on a wide range of schemes and support for children with special educational needs.

The assistive technology scheme the Senator mentioned is provided by the Department to supplement the overall approach to providing funding for schools for digital technology and equipment to support children for educational purposes. As part of this overall approach, the Department announced in April last year the digital strategy for schools to 2027 and associated grant funding for all recognised primary and post-primary schools for digital technology infrastructure. The strategy will advance the embedding of digital technologies across teaching, learning and assessment, building on the work under previous strategies. It aims to further support the school system in order that all students across our schools have the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills they need to navigate an ever-evolving digital world successfully. As part of the strategy, an ICT grant will be provided to schools, with €200 million annually committed to this. This approach facilitates multi-annual planning by schools to enable them to plan effectively for all of their children. The Department also funds broadband connectivity to all recognised primary, special, and post-primary schools.

I see assistive technology as a critical enabler for those, like Tristan, with special educational needs to gain the maximum benefit from a modern technologically focused education system. The Department has secured an extra €2 million funding this year for the scheme. This is up 60% on last year, so progress has been made. The increased allocation supports the Department's commitment to ensure the full range of resources, not just teachers and special needs assistants, SNAs, who are also very important, are available to support children who need it most.

The assistve technology scheme is provided by the Department to supplement the overall approach to providing funding to schools for digital technology and equipment to support children for education purposes. All equipment provided under this scheme supports children who require essential specialist equipment to access the school curriculum. All children have particular educational needs and, accordingly, it is acknowledged that all children could potentially benefit from or achieve a degree of improvement in their performance through the provision of technological support or equipment, such as personal computers.

The equipment provided under this scheme, however, is specialist equipment of a nature beyond that normally be provided to pupils by schools through general funding, funding which had previously been provided to schools through information and communication technology, ICT provision or through normal school resources or funds. Schools should as part of multi-annual planning have a digital learning plan which takes account of the needs of their students' context and circumstances. In cases where students cannot take part in the curriculum without such assistive technology, it is important to ensure the equipment is appropriate to the individualised needs of the students. In the case of students who are blind or visually impaired or students who are deaf or hard of hearing, the equipment and its appropriate usage is generally identified by the relevant visiting teacher.

I can confirm the Department is currently reviewing the scheme to ensure it is working as effectively as possible and that the resources are allocated appropriately. Certainly, what the Senator said leads me personally to have great concerns, which I will be forwarding to the Department. The review would be completed by the autumn. The process will have a consultative element and relevant stakeholders will be invited to participate.

Marie Sherlock (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State. I do not doubt the bona fides of what he said in terms of his personal concern for this child. To be frank, however, the response we got today indicates a Department with its head in the clouds. The Department is reliant on a health system to generate reports, which simply is not capable of doing it the moment.There may be other parts of the country where CDNTs are able to generate these reports, but the CDNT I am dealing with says it cannot do so because of resourcing issues.

There is nothing in the response that will provide any consolation or solace to Tristan's family or to the school. I spoke to the school principal this morning. The principal is very clearly of the view that Tristan requires assistive technology. It is wonderful to hear of the increase in the budgetary allocation in general to schools and we need to see so much more of it, but the educational professionals working with this child believe that he needs assistive technology. He simply cannot access or even apply for that because the CDNT cannot generate a report. It is absolutely disgraceful that the Department of Education is not stepping up and responding to the logjam within the health system. Something needs to be done.

It is reassuring to hear that a review is under way but we are now at the second last day of May and we are hearing that a review is to be completed by autumn. I find that very hard to believe. I do not believe the Department of Education will generate a review that actually means children like Tristan will get the assistive technology come September or October. We need to see much more concrete commitments if the Department is going to act proactively to ensure the children who need this technology can get it for the new school year.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator. I will say two things. The money has been increased. This should help more children access the technology, and the review will have some impact.

On the particular case raised by the Senator, I am very happy to take it up within the Department with the Secretary General, and let her know the position in this regard, namely, that the child cannot even ask for this because of the situation that obtains in the Senator's area. I will certainly follow this up.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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Before we suspend, I wish Tristan the very best. Hopefully, he will get the resources he requires in September. What is happening is completely unacceptable.