Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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121. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of full implementation of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 per annum until full implementation is reached; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12167/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that, Section 2 of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004, providing for the inclusive education of children with special educational needs, certain sections which placed duties on schools and the sections of the Act which placed the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) on a statutory footing, were commenced in 2005.

The remaining sections of the EPSEN Act have yet to be commenced. Legal advice indicates that the EPSEN Act, as it is currently constituted, may not be implemented on a phased, or age cohort, basis.

The NCSE has published a Plan for the Implementation of the EPSEN Act. This report, which was published in 2006, made recommendations which suggested that additional investment over a period of years of up to €235m per annum, across the education and health sectors, would be required to fully implement the EPSEN Act.

My Department's opinion is that the level of investment required could be significantly greater than that envisaged in the NCSE report. However, a total estimate of this amount has not been quantified.

Revised estimates of the amount of additional expenditure required to fully implement remaining sectors of the EPSEN Act have not recently been conducted. The level of additional expenditure required would have to take into account annual demographic growth and service developments in the area of special educational needs, pricing adjustments and salary cost differentials on an ongoing basis.

Estimates would also have to be made as to the number of pupils who might qualify for the statutory service provisions envisaged by the EPSEN Act.

While awaiting the full implementation of the EPSEN Act, the NCSE has published a number of policy advice papers which make recommendations aimed at developing a better or more effective alternative to the current resource allocation model, and which aims to move the system towards ultimate implementation of the EPSEN Act.

These reports include the NCSE policy advice on Supporting Students with Special Educational Needs in Schools, published in 2013, and the Report of the Working Group on a Proposed New Model for Allocating Teaching Resources for pupils with Special Educational Needs, published in 2014.

The alternative model is currently being piloted in 47 schools and the effectiveness of the pilot is being reviewed. This review will allow us to take into account the learning experiences of schools, principals, pupils and the views of parents over the course of the pilot.

It is therefore intended to bring into effect many of the good ideas contained in the EPSEN Act, on a non-statutory basis initially, through policy developments across a range of areas, in conjunction with NCSE policy advice.

Under the Programme for a Partnership Government I have also committed to consulting with stakeholders to see how best to progress sections of the EPSEN Act that were introduced on a non-statutory basis.