Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1422: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress in regard to the commitment given in the programme for Government to provide each child with special needs with the right to an individual education plan. [47980/08]

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1423: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress in regard to the commitment given in the programme for Government to implement the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 in full. [47981/08]

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1435: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress made in regard to the commitment given in the programme for Government to complete the roll out of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004, giving all children with special needs the right to an individual education plan to ensure the best outcome for them and putting in place a new appeals procedure. [47995/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1422, 1423 and 1435 together.

As the Deputy will be aware, a significant number of sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act, 2004 have been commenced, principally those establishing the National Council for Special Education and those promoting an inclusive approach to the education of children with special educational needs. Specifically, the following sections have been commenced — 1, 2, 14(1)(a), 14(1)(c), 14(2) to 14(4), 19 to 37, 40 to 53.

In addition the Special Education Appeals Board (SEAB) was established in April 2007, under Section 36 of the EPSEN Act 2004, to hear and determine appeals pursuant to a number of sections of the Act. The Board is continuing to identify the processes to be put in place in advance of commencement of the final sections of the Act.

The sections of the EPSEN Act that have been deferred are those mainly concerned with the assessment of need process, the preparation and review of individual education plans and the associated appeals provisions in relation to these areas. A small number of sections refer to interaction between the NCSE and the health services. The full list of deferred sections is — 3 to 13, 14(1)(b), 14(1)(d), 14(1)(e), 14(1)(f), 15 to 18, 38 and 39.

As has been outlined previously, it is not possible to commence the EPSEN Act incrementally by age cohort, therefore the provisions of the Act especially regarding assessments and individual education plans will have to be commenced for all children at the same time. This means that the necessary training arrangements, personnel and systems have to be in place at the time of commencement.

As required under the Act, the NCSE provided a report making recommendations regarding the implementation of EPSEN which suggested additional investment over a period of years of up to €235m per annum across the education and health sectors. Having considered the NCSE report, and consulted with the education partners, the Department of Health and Children and the HSE, my Department identified a range of options for the implementation of EPSEN. It is not possible to give exact figures regarding cost as the specific amount of money required to support implementation would depend on the options chosen and the timeframe for the implementation of these options. However, my Department's opinion is that the level of investment required would be greater than that envisaged in the NCSE report.

In the light of the current financial circumstances, it is therefore not possible to proceed with implementation in 2010 as originally envisaged. However, the Government will keep the matter under review and is committed to the full implementation of EPSEN at the earliest possible date.

I want to take this opportunity to emphasise that children with special educational needs will continue to receive an education appropriate to their needs. I intend to build on the progress that has been achieved in recent years which has seen a huge increase in resources for special needs. The NCSE will continue to support schools, parents and children and teachers and special needs assistants will continue to be deployed to schools to meet children's needs.

Furthermore, as announced on Budget day, an additional €20m has been provided — €10m for education services and €10m for health services — to strengthen and enhance services and continue the preparation for the full implementation of the Act at a later date.

The additional funding being allocated to my Department will provide for an expansion of the National Educational Psychological service so that all schools in the country will be covered by the service. The additional funding available to NEPS, which represents a 33% increase over the 2008 allocation, will facilitate the recruitment of up to 50 further psychologists. It is envisaged that this will bring the number of NEPS psychologists by the end of 2009 above the proposed 200 incorporated in the programme for Government.

This investment will significantly enhance the capacity of our educational psychologists to directly support schools in the development and delivery of appropriate interventions for children with special educational needs. Additional funding is also being provided to the National Council for Special Education in 2009 to increase the Council's capacity in the move towards the full implementation of EPSEN. The additional funding will enable the Council to continue to improve, plan and co-ordinate the delivery of services for children with special needs.

I have also provided for further investment in teacher training in this area. This will ensure that teachers are provided with opportunities to access continuing professional development so that the learning and teaching needs of all pupils with Special Educational Needs continue to be met. The provision of high quality training ensures that pupils learning opportunities are enriched and learning outcomes are optimised.

An integrated approach is being adopted by the education and health sectors to target these additional resources to the areas of greatest need. Progress in both sectors will be kept under review by the Office for Disability & Mental Health and the Cross-Sectoral Team of the Departments of Education and Science, and Health and Children.during 2009.

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1424: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress in regard to the commitment given in the programme for Government to improve second level provision for children with special needs. [47982/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that a key priority for the Government over the past decade has been to improve the provision of additional resources for all pupils, including those attending post-primary schools.

My Department provides a range of supports to second level schools to enable them cater for pupils with special educational needs (SEN). Such supports include remedial and additional teaching support, special needs assistant (SNA) support and funding for the purchase of specialised equipment.

As the Deputy is aware, there has been enormous progress made over the past number of years in relation to increasing the number of teachers and SNAs in our second level schools who are specifically dedicated to supporting the education of pupils with SEN.

All second level schools in the free education/block grant schemes have an entitlement to an ex-quota teacher allocation in respect of remedial/learning support teaching and guidance provision.

My Department supports the education of individual students with SEN in second level schools, including those experiencing difficulty with literacy and numeracy, throughout the country. The precise model of provision made available at second level will depend on the assessed needs of the pupils involved. Some pupils are capable of attending ordinary classes on an integrated basis with additional teacher and/or special needs assistant support. In other cases, the provision of special dedicated classes within the school may be the more appropriate response. Such special classes operate at significantly reduced pupil teacher ratios.

The organisation of such provision is a significant task of the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). With effect from 1 January 2005, the NCSE has taken over key functions from my Department in relation to special educational provision. The Council acts under the broad policy direction of my Department. Where a pupil with SEN enrols in a post primary school, the school may apply to the NCSE for additional teaching and/or SNA support. The number of hours allocated will vary depending on the nature of the special educational need.

In addition, my Department's Teacher Education Section has developed a strategy designed to meet the continuing professional development needs of personnel working with children with SEN. This involves a major expansion of the range of post-graduate professional training programmes available to teachers in the special needs area and the ongoing development of the Special Education Support Service (SESS) to support schools staff locally.

The provision of SEN in second level schools should be informed and guided by the guideline document "Inclusion of Students with Special Educational Needs: Post-Primary Guidelines" produced by my Department which provides practical advice and guidance to schools on the organisation and co-ordination of resources to maximise the support to each individual student.