I dealt with this-----

-----from Deputy Ó Ríordáin in the convention centre.

You and I remember that occasion.

I am not going to take intimidating or intimidatory accusations from you.

You always personalise your comments.

You remember your behaviour in the convention centre.

Does Deputy Ó Ríordáin remember his behaviour towards me in the Convention Centre? I will not accept it.

I thank Senator Ahearn for raising this matter. My role as Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion is to make sure we have sufficient special school places and, specifically pertinent to the Senator's question, to have special classes throughout the country and sufficient places for children with additional needs. There is no point having these classrooms unless they are properly kitted out and properly resourced and funded. That also applies to ancillary special education rooms su…

My mother was from Clonmel in County Tipperary. I am delighted to accept Senator Ahearn's invitation to come down to Tipperary and particularly to visit Ardfinnan National School. I have met the wonderful Cara Darmody. I am sure she did incredibly well in her junior certificate mathematics examinations. The school is to be commended. It sounds like a role model in that regard. I would be absolutely delighted to come down, see the room and perhaps discuss how we can assist the school into the future, and any other s…

On behalf of the Government, I welcome the opportunity to close what has been an informative debate on this very important matter. Indeed, the important issue of back-to-school costs was recognised by this Government in the programme for Government and a number of measures were set out in the programme to help address these costs. The Government is committed to reducing the burden on parents of children going back to school. That is why three key measures were announced this evening by the Government. In recognitio…

As the Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion, I am very pleased to be able to update the House on how this legislation is intended to work to support children with special educational needs to gain access to specialist class placements that can meet their needs. There are 12 sections to the Bill and I will set out more detail on the key provisions under each. Section 1 provides a definition in the Bill that any reference to the “Act of 1998” means the Education Act 1998. Section …

I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss this legislation and I have listened with interest to the contributions made by Members from all sides of the House. I believe almost 20 spoke. I appreciate that, as I am sure does the Minister. As Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion, I am committed to making a difference for students who have special educational needs as part of an inclusive education system. Children with special education needs should be supported to access the ed…

I spoke already about the Ombudsman for Children's report. I very much welcome the fact that he has now published his report. The Department had a significant level of engagement with the Office of the Ombudsman for Children to make sure he had the full facts in order that he could reflect that in his recommendations. It is important to point out that while the State may have failed in its obligations over many decades, the Ombudsman for Children acknowledged the progress that has been made by this Government in th…

I note that this was not part of the Deputy's question. Nonetheless, I have no difficulty in responding to it. First, all supports and resources will be given to all schools that we are requesting under the section 37A process to open a special class. It is important to point out that in the section 37A process, which is a transparent process, all schools are publicly named on the Department's website. That is the nature of it. It has already been used twice in the past. Recently, we initiated the process for the t…

Again, it is important to point out that the majority of special classes that are opened in Ireland are opened without having recourse to the section 37A process. The section 37A process has to be utilised and the mechanism has to be triggered in circumstances where the National Council for Special Education and the Department are of the firm view that a school has spare capacity to open a special class. If it transpires that a school is compelled to open a special class, it will be fully resourced and the staff wi…

The Deputy's question was about the emergency legislation which was published yesterday and will be before the Dáil tomorrow. Regarding Dublin at present, I answered that question at a press conference with the Minister, Deputy Foley, the other day. Currently, there are 56 children who do not have a special class place in Dublin and there are 49 children who do not have a special school place. By virtue of the fact that we will have the emergency legislation in place, we expect and hope to be in a position to have …

It is important to point out there is a new explicit function in this legislation allowing the NCSE to manage and co-ordinate the admission of children with special education needs in co-operation with schools where necessary. That will reduce the burden on parents. What happened on occasion was children who were in a mainstream school were then going into a special class but the NCSE was not being informed about that. The NCSE was under the impression there would be six vacant places in a special class, for exampl…

As the Deputy knows, every special class will be provided with one teacher and two special needs assistants, SNAs, for six children at primary level. At post-primary level, it is 1.5 teachers and two SNAs for six children. Primary schools also receive a mainstream capitation rate of €183 per student. There is also an enhanced capitation rate of €720 per student enrolled in a special class giving a total capitation rate per student of €903. Where a school is making the arrangements for the opening of a special class…

The training of teachers is very important, particularly when we are talking about special education and before the opening of a special class. The initial teacher training includes modules on special education, which means qualified teachers are already able to support children with special education needs who are in a special class setting. Recognising that teachers in these classes may also wish to access additional training and supports, a range of departmental continuing professional development, CPD, and Nati…

In my reply I outlined some of the teacher training that takes place prior to the opening of a class. Subsequent to a class being opened, resources are provided on behaviour management, language and literacy, numeracy, metacognition, school self-evaluation, CPD audit tools, teaching methods and organisation, assessment, individualised planning, and co-teaching, and other seminars on inclusion are provided. The Deputy specifically asked me, on behalf of Deputy Carroll MacNeill, about psychological support and partic…