I propose to take Questions Nos. 94 and 96 together.
I would like to thank the Deputy for the questions and would like to advise the following:
Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government. It is also a key priority for me as Minister for Special Education & Inclusion, for my Department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special classes and special school places are provided.
For 2023, the spend by my Department on special education has been substantially increased by over 10% on last year, meaning that for 2023 my Department will spend over €2.6 billion on special education.
This level of educational funding and support is unprecedented and represents in excess of 27% of the Department’s total allocation for 2023.
This includes funding to support children with special educational needs in mainstream classes; funding for new special classes and new special school places; additional special educational teachers, special needs assistants (SNAs) and funding for the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS).
In 2023, the number of teaching and SNA posts in our schools will increase with an additional 686 teachers and a further 1,194 SNAs.
For the first time ever there will be over 19,000 teachers working in the area of special education and over 20,000 SNAs. Together we have almost 40,000 qualified and committed people in our schools who are focused wholly and exclusively on supporting children with special educational needs.
The NCSE has the responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs. In order to meet the current and future needs of the special educational needs sector appropriately, my department sought to significantly increase the capacity and capability of the NCSE. The annual budget for the NCSE has been increased by in excess of €12 million (or 55%), to include provision for an additional 161 staff, the majority of which will be in frontline SENO and Advisor roles, so that parents, children and schools can be adequately supported into the future. The total budget for 2023 is €28.6m.
I was happy to announce details of a new recruitment campaign for SENOs as part of this ongoing expansion of the NCSE this week.
In 2017, with the introduction of the new special education teaching (SET) allocation model, the Department moved away from requiring a diagnosis to access educational supports in mainstream settings. Not only was this essential to ensure that education resources are needs based rather than diagnostic based, it is line with international best practice in supporting inclusive education.
It is generally speaking in the best interest of children to access placements in mainstream settings and approximately 98% of all children in Irish schools are supported in these settings.
It is the Department and NCSE position that children who require special school and class placements have a level of need that means mainstream education, with supports, is not a suitable option for them. These children generally have other significant challenges which require support from the public health system through the provision of clinical psychology, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, respite etc. In the circumstances it is not clear, what an educational psychological assessment alone could provide to the child if a multi-disciplinary assessment to cater for the greater complexity of need of that child is required.
Where health professionals are engaging with a child, it is important that their recommendations and advice would be known and understood by the school in which the child is enrolled. This is to ensure that the ‘whole child’ perspective is factored into the ‘continuum of support’ process which underpins the range of educational resources for these children.
As a result my Department engage continuously with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) and the Health Service Executive (HSE). In particular with regards to the assessment of need (AON) process.
The AON process is provided for under the Disability Act 2005 and is under the remit of the HSE. Following on from a court ruling in October 2021 there is now a legal obligation on the education system to assist the HSE as part of the HSE’s AON process. The vast majority of AON cases relating to children of school going age are in primary schools (90%). The NCSE is obliged to nominate a person with appropriate expertise to assist in the education assessment process. Where the child is enrolled in a school the Education of Persons with Special Education Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004 names the principal as the person the NCSE should contact.
In finalising the assessment of need process for the school system, there has been extensive engagement with the DCEDIY, the HSE, with education partners and with individual schools. Approximately 80 schools trialled the AON process during 2022 and feedback from the schools involved and as well as that provided by stakeholders was incorporated into guidance documents and resources for schools.
Comprehensive supports to assist schools in completing the educational component of the HSE’s AON process are available through the NCSE and include dedicated phone and email supports, instructional videos and support visits from NCSE personnel. Department officials are also in regular contact with HSE officials to ensure that the AON process operates as effectively as possible in schools.
Additionally, NEPS provide a service across all 4,000 schools with a huge focus on capacity building in schools. NEPS also support between 8,000 and 9,000 individual children annually.
NEPS provides educational psychological support to all recognised primary and post-primary schools. This involves direct support in the event of a critical incident, access to national and regional support and development work to build school capacity to support students, access to a NEPS psychologist for responses to queries arising, and access to individual pupil casework where there is need via a NEPS psychologist or through the Scheme for the Commissioning of Psychological Assessments (SCPA).
NEPS does not maintain waiting lists, but in common with many other psychological services and best international practice, has adopted a consultative model of service. The focus is on empowering teachers to intervene effectively with pupils whose needs range from mild to severe and transient to enduring. Psychologists use a problem solving and solution oriented consultative approach to maximise positive outcomes for these pupils.
My Department and the NCSE are anxious to streamline the process whereby children access special school and special class places. An initial high level engagement looked at the issues impacting school places, not only entry but also review of placements once children start in specialist provision. That work is continuing and we would expect to have further progress on this in the coming year.
My Department engage intensely with the NCSE in relation to the forward planning of new special classes and additional special school places. This work involves a detailed review of statistical data in relation to forecasting demand for special class places, an analysis of school accommodation, consideration of improved data sharing arrangements and a particular focus on the provision of special classes at post-primary level.
Parents seeking special class placements for their children are advised to contact the NCSE locally so that their needs can be taken into account for planning purposes. The local special educational needs organisers (SENOs) remain available to assist and advise parents of children with special educational needs. Parents may contact SENOs directly using the contact details available at: www.ncse.ie/regional-services-contact-list.
The NCSE have advised my Department that there is sufficient special class places available to meet the needs of children known to them for this school year. As further children become known to the NCSE during the course of this school year, the NCSE are available to support families at local level and work to secure an appropriate placement for a child.
My Department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.
