Taking Deputy Tully's questions first, the review I intend to conduct of the EPSEN Act will be a review of the legislation in its entirety, including the Parts that have been commenced. It is my view that section 2, which relates to inclusive education, still stands. It states: A child with special educational needs shall be educated in an inclusive environment with children who do not have such needs unless the nature or degree of those needs of the child is such that to do so would be inconsistent with- ( a ) the…

I can take the question if it relates specifically to SNAs. My understanding is that it does.

There is an occupational health service provision specifically for teachers, and that would include SNAs, as essential workers. Those who are at very high risk can take Covid leave, but those who are at high risk should be at work. That is the position. Every school has a lead worker representative whose role is to represent staff. Somebody should not miss work for Covid reasons if he or she is high risk. It is only if the person is at very high risk that he or she should not work. The person could ask the occupati…

I appreciate the sentiment of what the Deputy said. That is one of the reasons we provided €30 million in the school reopening plan for personal protective equipment, PPE. PPE is critical for the role of the SNA and for the SNA to carry out his or her functions not just adequately but safely. Often the SNA moves from room to room and he or she needs a medical-grade mask when he or she is within 2 m of a child with special needs. I understand what the Deputy is saying about the rigidity of the process, but, as I sai…

I appreciate the sentiment expressed by the Deputy and the fact that he has a particular person in mind in this regard. I stress the fact that, in addition to the Covid-19 response plan, which each school has, schools also have at least one lead worker representative whose role is to represent staff and people in the predicament the Deputy outlines. The role of an SNA in particular is crucial. We have grown the amount of SNAs by 78% since 2011 and one of the things we want to ensure is that every SNA is in a positi…

I thank the Deputy. My Department's policy is to provide for the inclusive education of autistic students in mainstream schools to the greatest extent possible. As we know, autism is a spectrum condition, so some autistic students require relatively little support in school and are largely independent in their learning, while others require significant levels of support. There is therefore not one preferred educational approach for autistic students and rather there is a range of provision, sometimes described as a…

I thank the Deputies for their contributions, and they are correct in saying that I have met with a number of different groups in respect of the issue of ASD units and special classes. Indeed, in Dublin 6W there are four special educational needs, SEN, classes and four ASD classes, in Dublin 8 there are eight SEN classes and eight ASD classes, and in Dublin 12 there are 17 SEN classes and 17 ASD classes. The Deputies will also be aware that I have triggered the section 37A mechanism of the Education Act 1998, and o…

I thank the Senator for bringing this matter to my attention. It provides me with the opportunity to clarify the current position for St. Mel's College, Longford, in respect of the additional classroom space. I am sure the school is delighted to have the Senator as an alumnus representing them in the House. St. Mel's College is a Catholic all-boys primary school under the patronage of the Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise. In September 2019, the school had an enrolment of 548 pupils, and enrolments have grown in th…

I thank the Senator. I wish to reiterate that the concerns the architect raised in his report will be taken into consideration by the building and planning unit. The distance that pupils have to travel to go to school will also be taken into account. What will primarily be taken into account is the fact that it is a building dating from 1865 and whether it is a viable option for reconfiguration in the first instance. I have been told by the Department that the assessment will proceed as soon as possible. It is to b…

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. He will be aware that the residential institutions statutory fund board, also known as Caranua, was established in 2013. Its specific purpose was to disburse the cash contributions of €110 million pledged by religious congregations following the publication of the report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, more commonly referred to as the Ryan report. The contributions received from the congregations were held in an investment account managed by the N…

I completely agree with the Senator's sentiment in that regard. Obviously, due to the particular impact of residential abuse on survivors, the Department is extremely mindful of that. Caranua was set up and designed to pay out, not that any money can ever compensate for what people have suffered and endured in this type of abuse or, indeed, any abuse. Having said that, moneys are available and late applications will be possible and have been possible since 1 August 2018. The Department told me that 342 late applica…

I can hear the Senator's frustration on behalf of the parents of children with special needs and their journey, and I share her concern. As the very first dedicated Minister for special education, I am going to do precisely what she asked and make the entire process of locating a placement whether it is a special class or special school as easy as possible because at the moment it is unsatisfactory. I will outline this matter in my contribution. I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. I want to ackno…

I assure Senator Ardagh that nobody is leading anybody up the garden path. Suffice to say, there have been site visits and discussions with the patrons, trustees and the principal of Scoil Colm where some 150 children are already provided for. My understanding is that the school will provide some but not all of the classes. There are ongoing discussions and we need to be hopeful in that regard. I hope something might arise out of the discussions and that I will be able to inform the House of it in due course.

I congratulate Senator Dooley on his appointment to the Seanad and thank him for raising this matter. It allows me to clarify the current position on Gaelscoil Mhíchíl Cíosóg which, as the Senator said, is a Catholic co-educational school with an emphasis on the Irish language. I understand it has 471 pupils; the Senator said there are 481. Either way, it has a large school population. I will outline some of the background to this matter. In 2014, the school authority applied to my Department for capital funding un…

I thank the Senator. I will bring his comments and contribution to the attention of the Minister. We would be ad idem about having a sports hall in a gaelscoil. We want children to be able to partake in physical exercise but there are certain criteria for certain schemes. In this context, the application for Gaelscoil Mhíchíl Chíosóg for a PE room will be considered under Project Ireland 2040 funding and that is open. While good progress continues to be made with the roll-out of projects, the enhanced funding level…

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. May I also take the opportunity to congratulate her on her election to the Seanad? Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government and for me, as the first dedicated Minister with responsibility for this area. Next year, over 20% of the total education budget or €2 billion will be invested in supporting children with special educational needs. As a result, the numbers of speci…

The Senator mentioned joined-up thinking so I wish to reassure her that the Department meets the NCSE on a weekly basis. I am the very first Minister with dedicated responsibility for this area and there is a huge body of work to be done.

There is a forecasting model that is being developed with the NCSE so that we can work with existing schools and know, from a demographic perspective, how many children and people with special needs will need accommodation. One of the announcements I made this week was that all new school buildings - I got this commitment from the Department - will be able to open and have space for special classes and sensory rooms in the future. The difficulty is with existing schools. We have the legislative mechanism under sect…

I thank the Deputy for his question. Children with special needs should receive their education in placements that are appropriate to their needs alongside their peers wherever possible unless such an approach would be inconsistent with the best interests of an individual child or other children in the school. This is provided for in section 2 of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004. On the guidelines the Deputy mentioned, guidance has been sent to schools. A summary of it was published…

If parents have concerns about particular schools, they should contact the NCSE. If schools have difficulties, they can contact the NCSE or the Department. As I said, the guidance is very detailed and clear. I have said clearly today that pupils in special classes should continue to interact or integrate with mainstream classes. Obviously that number will have to be minimised. What is being said is that at primary school level, for example, this may mean each special class pupil integrates with one mainstream class…