I assure the Deputy I am acutely aware of the sensitivities about special education. This is why when we are in a position to front-load the new special needs assistants model in September 2021 - we could not do it this year because of Covid - we will, in tandem, be rolling out the school inclusion model. As the Deputy knows, through investment in the budget, I am in a position to recruit extra therapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. We are extending this to two other community healt…

We understand the HSE's position, particularly with Covid and the accelerating pandemic, that it had no option at the time. I am not defending it but I understand why it had to take therapists and use them to tackle Covid through contact tracing. What we did is ask the NCSE to recruit therapists directly. This is what we will do. Recruitment is now under way. It will be very necessary for the school inclusion model I mentioned earlier. We have already had an interim evaluation and I will get the final evaluation at…

I hope I adequately answered the question with regard to the HSE issue. The Minister of State with responsibility for disability will deal with access to services in the HSE. My particular remit is with regard to the school environment and making sure we have adequate therapists recruited for the school inclusion model. It is a complementary service to the HSE. It is not in lieu of it or does not substitute for it. The substantive question was about special places or special classes. The NCSE forecasting is very im…

Clearly, many of the issues Deputy Naughten is raising are under the remit of the Minister for Health and probably the Minister of State with responsibility for disability as well. I accept what Deputy Naughten is saying. We cannot have delays that are in any way going to adversely affect a child obtaining speech and language services. That is a separate matter to the school setting, as I have said. I do not believe it is a case of being passed from Billy to Jack. These are separate environments and places. The the…

The Deputy has raised two questions today, neither of which were in regard to the questions he tabled. Speech and language therapy provided by the HSE is slightly outside of my remit but nevertheless within the school inclusion model we have put in place a pilot project in 150 schools and we now have received investment to roll that out in 200 schools. We will be using speech and language therapists in respect of whom recruitment is under way. We will also be using occupational therapists and crisis and behaviour s…

I can give a commitment that I will bring the Deputy's concerns to the attention of the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities and the Minister for Health. I want to be clear in regard to the school inclusion model and the therapists within a school environment. They are not in lieu of a service that should be provided by the HSE. They are a complementary service which should enhance the child. As I mentioned to the Deputy earlier, we can see from the interim evaluation we have got back from the pil…

It is actually about the increasing numbers of special needs pupils at primary level as well as about Covid-19. I will mention briefly that, obviously, substantial supports were given regarding Covid-19. With regard to Dublin, the letters of second notice of section 37A under the Education Act 1998 are going out today to 26 different schools to ensure they provide special class places because it is something I want to eradicate completely.

It is important to stress that the allocation of SNAs for this year was frozen. It will remain unchanged until September 2021 and then the front-loading allocation system will kick in. No SNA was taken away from any school. The Deputy is right that there is an exceptional review process. That is available for schools if they need to challenge the fact they need additionality in terms of an SNA. It was very clear, however, and I and the Department worked closely on ensuring no SNA would not be replaced in terms of t…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley, this provides me with the opportunity to outline the current position on the problems experienced by Sancta Maria College in Rathfarnham, which the Deputy alluded to earlier this week. A major building project has been under way at the Sancta Maria College since 2015, which is delivering major refurbishment works and an extension to the college. As part of this project, the heating in the system was upgraded to bring it to a modern…

I will do so. The Department will continue to work with Sancta Maria College on all the other matters as well. I note the Deputy's comments on blended learning, and with Covid-19, the Department and the Minister are acutely aware of such matters. We must support schools where they find themselves in a position where the pupils cannot attend or buildings must close for whatever reason. It is something we are looking at on a daily basis.

As the Deputy will be aware, delivering equality of opportunity in schools, DEIS, is the main policy initiative of the Department of Education and Skills to tackle educational disadvantage at school level. The DEIS plan sets out the vision for interventions in the critical area of educational disadvantage policy and is based on the findings of an extensive review of the DEIS programme, which involved consultations with all relevant stakeholders. In 2020, the Department will spend in the region of €125 million on th…

I hear the Deputy's frustration and I understand that. It is important to stress, however, that there is no application process for a school to receive DEIS status. The underlying principle for inclusion in the DEIS programme is evidence of the need to make provision of supports to schools catering for concentrated levels of disadvantaged pupils. The identification process for DEIS status is based on an objective statistics-based model to determine which schools merit inclusion in the programme. Variables used in t…

I take this opportunity, first, to congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on her appointment. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue as it gives me an opportunity to outline the current position regarding provision for children with special needs including autism. Enabling children with special educational needs, including autism, to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a real priority for the Government and for me as Minister of State with responsibility for special education. Currently we know th…

I thank the Deputy. I reassure him that the legislative process that is under way is fully transparent. It is published on the departmental website where the Deputy can look at it at any stage. I do not disagree with him. I am aware that one particular child in Dublin North-West is looking for a place and that the NCSE is engaging regularly with the child's parents. While it is not ideal, there is an interim measure of a home tuition scheme. It involves approximately 20 hours per week for a child over the age of th…

I am pleased to be here, following on from statements to the Dáil by the Minister, Deputy Harris, and Minister, Deputy Foley, on the reopening of education and the training sector in general. My specific focus is students with special educational needs. We want to ensure that they are supported in our schools. I have sought to be an advocate for young people with special educational needs and their families, and I have engaged widely and extensively with groups from across the sector over recent weeks. I have been …

This is not a question and answer session but I will briefly answer the Deputy's question. First of all, in the special education package for the reopening of schools we dedicated approximately €14.7 million for SNAs. Another €13 million was allocated to the provision of PPE, cleaning and other measures. On the issue of giving a commitment for the future, €1.9 billion, or approximately 20% of the overall departmental Vote, is dedicated to the special education sector. Obviously, I will be looking for an increase in…

I thank Deputy Joan Collins for her questions. I will try to oblige her with answers. I mentioned earlier the dedicated package for the special education sector which specifically provides for SNAs but I will explain where that €14.7 million goes. What it means is that if, for whatever reason, an SNA is absent from a particular school, whether it is in a special school or in a special class in a mainstream school, he or she will be immediately replaced. That is where that funding is going. It also applies to careta…

Since I took over the role, I have had extensive engagement with a wide group of people. I am very aware of Scoil Colm. The Deputy will be aware that there is an ongoing conversation about possibly expanding. Scoil Eoin, which has approximately 150 pupils, is already in place but there is room and opportunity that we are trying to explore. If Deputies or parents want to email about a meeting, I will try to set it up. Obviously, however, there are time constraints.

I thank the Deputy for her question. I agree with her that we cannot tolerate a child with special needs not being treated equal to every other child in terms of a right to access education. I am determined to rectify such problems. The Deputy will know that 20% of the Department's Vote, or €1.9 billion, goes towards special education in recognition of the work that needs to be done in that area. There is a process for the 39 schools. I am in a position to speak about the process generally but not the minutiae of t…

I reassure the Deputy with respect to children with special needs who will return to school. There are approximately 8,000 children, for example, in special schools and there are also approximately 8,000 children in special classes. They have been prioritised in the stimulus package provided for the reopening of schools with a significant amount of funding totalling approximately €13 million. That does not include the over €14 million allocated to special needs assistants that will be dedicated to helping children …