I note what the Deputy says about Maynooth University and the 17,000 students who will attend it. I also note that Maynooth Post Primary School, which is the co-educational school I mentioned, has 1,120 pupils. There is quite a considerable amount of education going on in a very small, constricted area. That sort of collaboration and engagement between the relevant schoolgoing communities, as well as the third level institution, is extremely important because of health and safety and the recreational facilities. Th…

I welcome the opportunity to address the House. It is important to acknowledge the challenges faced by young people with special educational needs, SEN, and their families at this time, as well as the staff who support them. These students have been at the heart of our commitment to ensuring that in-person special education could continue in some form during the current restrictions for those who need it. We know that distance learning does not work for all, as is shown by international evidence. We also know that …

I thank the Deputy for his question and for his non-adversarial and constructive approach, which is important. Whatever has happened in the past, we must move forward in a constructive way. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, does a great deal of work on the ground with children with special needs. It has its SENOs, who are a close liaison with schools and families. That is probably the best way to implement a local approach. I would suggest that if the Deputy has a particular family in mind, they sho…

The Deputy and I have discussed this particular dearth of special education provision in Cork on previous occasions and I can get him a written reply to his query. In Cork, we are planning a considerable amount of work this year because Cork is one of the areas that is most affected by a lack of special class and school places. As the Deputy knows, there is a mechanism under section 37A of the Education Act 1998, which I can consider for these areas. I am reluctant to do so, however, because again, when we are talk…

I thank Deputy Andrews for his query. We issued 39 notices to various schools under section 37A of the Education Act because it is important where there is a dearth of places in a particular area, and I am aware of the issues in Dublin 4 and Dublin 6. With regard to these 39 schools, two notices were issued and we are now in the process of looking through the submissions. On-site inspections take place regularly to collaborate with the schools and see whether we can expand an existing school. One of the very first …

I wish to correct the record of the House with regard to the context of a word I used last Thursday afternoon when speaking about students without special educational needs. The word was not appropriate, I did not use it intentionally and it was not what I meant to say. While I publicly apologised last Thursday, I wish to restate that apology on the floor of the House. I withdraw the remark and re-emphasise my commitment to supporting children with special educational needs and their families, particularly at this …

I thank Deputy O'Donnell very much for his question. He must have his finger on the pulse, as there is very good news following our discussions with the unions this morning in that there is a shared commitment to reopen all special classes in primary schools, special schools, and classes for children with SEN in mainstream classes from next Thursday, 21 January. This is a positive development. We have logistical issues that we need to sort out, but I thank the education partners and the Minister for Education, Depu…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the important matter of special education during the current restrictions. We are all conscious of the importance of abiding by the public health guidance and limiting our movements as part of the efforts to tackle Covid-19. The current period of restrictions comes at a very grave time for our country and is designed to reduce transmission while also allowing our essential workers to do necessary work to support our vulnerable communities. We are profoundly grateful for everyth…

I am very aware of Rosedale School. I spoke with Angelina Hynes last week and I understand the difficulties the school faces. I echo the comments of the Minister. The school will open next Thursday. There will be one-to-one remote support in the interim to help. I am particularly aware of the issues facing special schools.

Special schools will reopen on Thursday, 21 January. I appreciate the stories Deputy Higgins outlined and how incredibly difficult it has been for children with special educational needs over the recent period. We had a very constructive engagement with our education partners, which was done in a very collaborative way, as the Deputy said, and it is of benefit that the schools will reopen next Thursday. There are interim supports for children in special schools. In particular, the reduced pupil-teacher ratio means …

Obviously, even though we have a shared commitment and ambition to reopen next Thursday, there are still some ongoing discussions on logistics and other issues that need to be ironed out. Concurrent communication is something that is being discussed by all of the groups, including the parents representatives and our education partners and is something of which we are very conscious. The intention now is to move forward on 21 January.

I thank Senator Doherty for her strong interest in the area of special education. She has always been a very strong advocate in this area and I appreciate the work she has done to date, particularly in trying to bring this school into the spotlight. As she noted, there was a very long and productive meeting on this matter yesterday. As regards the site acquisition, I understand there are some small issues in the Chief State Solicitor's office that still need to be rectified. I assure the Senator that as Minister of…

In the Senator's original contribution she noted that the school was in an old converted building. That is below par for children with special needs so from an overall perspective, it is going to be of benefit to those 30 children, and hopefully more, when they move to the new building in Hacketstown. From a timeline perspective, as a solicitor and lawyer I know things can get bogged down in legal detail and that can take time. I am not in a position to give the Senator an exact timeline but suffice it to say I wil…

I thank Deputies Durkan and Cronin for so eloquently outlining the issues faced by St. Raphael's school and the details of a public meeting, of which I was not aware, concerning the issues St. Raphael's in particular has been facing. The Deputies will be pleased to hear that a building project to provide a new school building for St. Raphael's is included in the Department’s school building programme. As was mentioned, a site is required for that purpose. At present, the Department is at a very advanced stage in th…

I thank the Deputies for shining a light on the matter because it is important that we look after children with special needs as best we can. I want to try to expedite the process as much as I can and it remains an absolute priority for me and the Department to progress the acquisition. Unfortunately, due to the very specific and commercially sensitive nature of the site acquisition, I am not able to elaborate further on the issue. The Deputies can rest assured that the project is being given priority and our full …

It is my belief that children with special educational needs should receive their education in placements which are appropriate to their needs alongside their peers wherever possible unless such an approach would be inconsistent with the best interests of the individual child or other children in the school. This approach is consistent with the provisions of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, EPSEN, Act 2004. My Department's policy is therefore to provide for the inclusive education of childr…

The policy of the Department and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is to explore, find out and discover how many special needs places are needed whether it is in special classes, special schools or a child with special needs being integrated into a mainstream class. The Deputy mentioned Cork. St Mary's Special School in Rochestown accommodated an additional six or seven children this year. There are 311 special educational needs classes in total in Cork. There are about 260 ASD classes specifically,…

At this point we cannot rule anything in or out. The National Council For Special Education, NCSE, is due to come back to me with its conclusive policy advice on an inclusion model for the Irish system. I like to talk about the Irish model as distinct from any other model. The Deputy will be aware that in this budget we secured funding for the expansion of the school inclusion model into two additional community healthcare organisation areas. That will start in September 2021. This is a multidisciplinary approach w…

Several sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 have been commenced. The commenced provisions include those establishing the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, and those providing for an inclusive approach to the education of children with special educational needs. As the Deputy stated, the remaining sections of the Act have not yet been commenced. However, the Government has continued to invest in the area of special education support. Next year, the Department wil…

The Deputy will appreciate that I only recently published my action priorities. As I said, one of those priorities is to conduct a review of the EPSEN Act in its entirety. The premise of the review is that in the 16 years since the enactment of the Act, we have moved substantially away from the diagnosis-led model to a needs-based model. One of the reasons that some provisions of the Act were not commenced was a cost consideration. The NCSE and the Department estimated that, over a period of years, it would have co…