Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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209. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way her Department and public bodies and agencies under her remit are implementing Action 16 of the National Disability and Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021 (details supplied). [38477/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My department is committed to making the information on its website accessible to all, regardless of ability. To this end, the Department's website is designed to follow guidelines set out by the W3C (the World Wide Web Consortium). The department aims to comply with Level Double-A of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. In addition, a number of Triple-A checkpoints are incorporated to enhance the accessibility of the website. An accessibility statement is published on the website and is linked in the page footer on all web pages.

My department has commenced captioning of videos and use of Irish Sign Language on appropriate video material. In the development of content for its new website, to be hosted on gov.ie, my department has taken a plain language approach as part of the overall Government initiative to make information more accessible to all citizens.

My department has not developed or deployed any mobile applications.

The information in respect of state bodies, within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my department. Contact details for these bodies are set out in the attached document, should the Deputy wish to contact the aegis bodies directly with her query.

Contact E-Mail Addresses for State Bodies under the Remit of the Department of Education as at 11 May 2021

Note 1 – The designated officer responsible within An Chomhairle um Oideachais Gaeltachta is Muireann Ní Mhóráin

Note 2 – The spelling of the NCCA e-mail address to which Oireachtas queries may be addressed has been verified with the NCCA as being accurate

Note 3 –The Executive Office of Caranua (Residential Institutions Statutory Fund) has completed its work, work is now underway to address the winding up of Caranua. In the interim queries in regard to Caranua are being addressed by the Department of Education, pending the passing of legislation to address the windup. Contact details for a Departmental official are provided above.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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210. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way her Department and public bodies and agencies under her remit are implementing Action 32 of the National Disability and Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021 (details supplied). [38506/21]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Under the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (2017-2021) each government department is required to have a consultative committee to oversee and monitor implementation of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS).

Membership is drawn from members of the Disability Stakeholders Group (DSG) who are appointed by the Minister for Disability, key agencies of each Department, as well as departmental representatives. My Department’s consultative committee includes representation from the DSG, the National Disability Authority, the National Council for Special Education, the National Educational Psychological Service, the Inspectorate and representatives from across the wider Department.

The Committee which is chaired by my Department, adapts a collaborative approach with its stakeholder members, agreeing meeting content and topics for discussion in advance of each meeting. More recently, it has agreed to include a thematic approach to a number of meetings, providing a forum whereby officials from particular areas are invited to attend the meeting and to discuss particular actions and provision as set out in the NDIS. So far this year, my Department’s Committee has met three times. The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled for 1 September.

I can also advise that Section 22 of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004 provides for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to establish a consultative forum, for the purposes of consulting in relation to matters concerning the education for persons with special educational needs.

The consultative forum includes representatives from the National Disability Authority, parental representatives, and voluntary bodies whose objects relate to the promotion of the interests of, or the provision of support services to, persons with disabilities.

In establishing the forum, the NCSE also has regard to the desirability of there being members of the consultative forum persons who themselves have special educational needs, their parents and representatives.

Officials from my Department, and myself as Minister for Special Education and Inclusion, also meet regularly with disability representative organisations, and parental representative bodies, to discuss issues in relation to the provision of education for children with special educational needs.