Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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148. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 that have not yet been commenced; his plans in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47698/17]

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.

Legal advice provided to my Department indicates that the EPSEN Act, as it is currently constituted, may not be implemented on a phased, or age cohort, basis.

Under the Programme for a Partnership Government I have committed to consulting with stakeholders on how best to progress aspects of the Act on a non-statutory basis.

In order to ensure that inclusive education can be provided for, very significant investment has been made in the area of special educational needs supports. 

Funding for special education provision in 2017 will amount to some €1.68 billion, which is equivalent to approximately 19% of the gross overall current allocation for education and training and represents an increase in spending in this area of 12% over the last two years. It is now 31% higher than in 2011.

At present, all schools are encouraged to use Education Plans. My Department's Inspectorate's advice is that the majority of schools are now using some form of individual education planning for children with special needs. In line with Circular 30/2014, schools are required to put in place Personal Pupil Plan including a care plan for all pupils availing of SNA support. 

Providing power to the National Council for Special Education, as envisaged under Section 10 of the EPSEN Act, to designate a school place for a person with special educational needs, is currently being considered in the context of the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016.

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.

This new model for allocating support to pupils with special educational needs has been implemented from September 2017.  Circular 0013/2017 for primary schools which was published on 7th March 2017 sets out the details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools.  The revised allocation model replaces the generalised allocation process at primary and post primary school level for learning support and high incidence special educational needs, and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) allocation process which provided additional resource teaching supports to schools, to support pupils assessed as having Low Incidence disabilities.  Guidelines for schools on the organisation, deployment and use of their special education teachers have also been published;.One of the benefits of this new approach is that schools will have greater flexibility as to how they will deploy their resources.

The NCSE is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of the SNA scheme, in consultation with other relevant Departments and State Agencies, including the National Disability Authority (NDA), to identify the most appropriate form of support options to provide better outcomes for students with Special Educational Needs, having regard to the significant amount of State investment in this area.

In response to a progress report from the NCSE on the comprehensive assessment, the NCSE were requested to establish a working group, comprising relevant stakeholders, to assist in proposing a better model for providing care supports so as to provide better outcomes for students with special educational needs who have additional care needs. This Working Group has commenced its work and the work will run in tandem with the completion of the overall Comprehensive Assessment of the SNA Scheme.

It is intended that the reports of the Working Group and of the Review will be completed in Spring 2018.

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.