Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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786. To ask the Minister for Health if there is a plan in place to develop educational supports within junior and senior schools possibly under the CSPE curriculum to support needs (details supplied). [13071/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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My Department has been advised by the Department of Education that custom and practice is that schools ask parents before their child enters school, whether primary or post-primary, to inform the school in confidence if there are any medical conditions, allergies etc. that teachers ought to be aware of. Schools then take whatever measures they feel are necessary to cater for the specific needs of the enrolled student, and this can include seeking additional resources where a student’s condition requires additional support e.g. physical or learning needs. Children with Coeliac disease would not generally require such extra supports, such as a special needs assistant.

The SPHE syllabus in primary school, particularly in fifth and sixth classes, asks teachers and students to ‘explore and examine’ some of the illnesses particularly associated with food intake or special health conditions: coeliac, diabetic, anorexia, bulimia, the dietary needs of different age groups and individuals.

In post-primary schools, both the existing SPHE syllabus and new SPHE short course emphasise the importance of diet and nutrition to health. They do not insist on coverage of particular conditions and how to approach them, leaving schools the flexibility to look at topics which may be particularly relevant to their students. Given the range of possible conditions and allergies that a large post primary school could have among its student cohort, the emphasis is on promoting holistic understanding of diet and diet-related conditions, while teacher guidelines also focus on broader issues e.g. school canteen food.

It is also important to stress that the optional subject Home Economics can play a significant part in raising awareness of diet and diet-related conditions, at both junior and senior cycles in post-primary schools.

Ultimately, it is expected that parents will provide schools with the appropriate information on their child’s condition, allergy or illness, and this can and ought to include any specific advice that teachers need to have in order to support the child. It is equally important to remember that teachers, or other students, are not medics and cannot take the place of qualified medical personnel e.g. administering medicines.