Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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230. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of implementing the EPSEN Act in full for his Department; if they can give a breakdown of the areas in which these costs would be incurred. [24214/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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A number of sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 have been commenced, including those establishing the National Council for Special Education and those promoting an inclusive approach to the education of children.

The Sections of the EPSEN Act which have not been implemented are those which would have conferred a statutory entitlement to -

- an educational assessment for all children with special educational needs.

- consequent development of a statutory individual educational plan (IEP).

- the delivery of detailed educational services on foot of this plan.

- an independent appeals process.

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 the remaining sections 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 currently 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.

These reports include the NCSE Report on Supporting Students with Special Educational Needs in Schools (2013) and the Report of the NCSE Working Group: Proposed New Model for Allocating Teaching Resources for Students with Special Educational Needs (2014). The NCSE has also published an Information booklet for Parents of Children with Special Educational Needs. These reports are available at www.ncse.ie.

The policy advice paper 'Supporting Students with Special Educational Needs in Schools' included an assessment of the legislative and administrative practices underpining the provision of special educational needs supports and also the current polices and manner of providing supports for children with special educational needs in schools.

The report also made a number of 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.

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.