Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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146. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has produced a new statement of strategy since May 2016; and if so, the measures in it to support persons with disabilities. [33630/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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In September my Department published the Action Plan for Education 2016-2019 - Strategy Statement. The Action Plan aims at making the Irish education and training service the best in Europe by 2026.

The Action Plan has five high level goals:

- Improve the learning experience and the success of learners

- Improve the progress of learners at risk of educational disadvantage or learners with special educational needs

- Help those delivering education services to continually improve

- Build stronger bridges between education and the wider community

- Improve national planning and support services.

The high level goals will serve as the basis for my Department’s high level work programme for the next three years, the aim of which is to provide an education and training system that equips learners with the knowledge and skills that they need to achieve their potential and to participate fully in society and the economy through the delivery of high quality education and training experiences, which will make the best use of resources. It will work towards improving accountability for educational outcomes across the system. It will take particular account of the needs and requirements of learners with disabilities or with special educational needs

Under Goal 2 of the Action Plan, target policies and supports for learners with special education needs to support their participation and progression across the continuum of education, we aim to improve the participation, including participation in inclusive mainstream settings, and progress of children and young people with special educational needs across the whole education system and develop better whole-school approaches.

The following objectives and actions have been identified to support people with disabilities:

- Develop and pilot a new model for allocation of teaching resources for children with special educational needs.

- Consult with education partners on implementation of sections of the EPSEN Act and on the provision of services to children with Downs Syndrome.

- Undertake a comprehensive assessment of the S Scheme to identify the most appropriate form of support options to provide better outcomes for students with special educational needs.

- Work with relevant Government Departments and agencies to introduce a new in-school speech and language service creating stronger linkages between parents, teachers and Speech and Language Therapists.

- Establish an Inclusion Support Service under NCSE to assist Schools in the provision of education to children with special educational needs.

- Implement strands of the National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education, so that higher education becomes more representative of the population in general, by publishing the Review and implementing the recommendations of the Fund for Students with disabilities

- Increase the proportion of students with disabilities as a percentage of all entrants to higher education to 8% from the current rate of 6% by 2019.