Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 20 May 2004

Vol. 586 No. 1

Adjournment Debate.

Special Educational Needs.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this important matter. The matter I wish to address concerns the need for the Minister for Education and Science to detail his plans for the provision of extra resource teachers and learning support teachers for primary schools, which he announced last month, and the need for new teachers to be appointed and deployed at the earliest date to allow schools to plan properly for the coming school year and to ensure that extra teachers are of maximum benefit to all pupils and schools on the basis of need.

The plight of children with special needs is one of the most pressing issues faced by our education system and our society as a whole. The preliminary results of a survey carried out by the Department of Education and Science in primary schools last October show the extent of need among tens of thousands of children throughout the State. Currently there are some 2,600 resource teachers to cater for this large number of pupils who need special attention. The Minister for Education and Science has promised 350 extra resource teachers and has committed to deploy them as soon as possible.

I welcome the news that agreement was reached between the Department and the Irish National Teachers' Organisation on the deployment of special needs teachers. The INTO had expressed concern that the Department might be opting for deployment based on an arbitrary ratio of one special needs teacher per 150 pupils. Independently of the INTO's concern, I was aware of at least two schools in my immediate area in which such speculation was causing real worry. It was thought that the implementation of such a quota could see some schools losing out and emerging with a diminished service. I hope the agreement with the INTO now means no such scenario will occur and that deployment will be based only on need.

I ask the Minister of State to confirm, on the record, the headlines of the agreement as announced by the INTO. These are as follows: special education staffing in primary schools is to be maintained and no further teachers will be placed on redeployment panels in this school year other than those already notified; the outstanding applications will be processed as a matter of urgency and decisions will issue as soon as possible; the Department of Education and Science will meet the INTO over the coming weeks to discuss a weighted model which will, as far as practicable, take account of gender and disadvantage and will give flexibility to small schools; there will be full implementation of this model by September 2005; in the interim, new appointments will be considered on the basis of the weighted model and specific cases — these cases will be judged on an individual basis; the 350 new teachers will be allocated to deal with special needs as soon as possible on the basis of a weighted model; and the Department of Education and Science has agreed to consult the INTO on a notification to all schools.

I ask the Minister of State to ensure that all schools are fully informed so they are in a position to plan properly for the coming school year. I acknowledge there is little time left in which these plans can be properly put together.

I again emphasise the need to make much greater progress on the issue of class sizes in primary schools, which is important. Only a dramatic reduction in class sizes through recruitment of more teachers, can ensure that each child receives more individual attention and that those with special needs are allowed to participate fully in their classes and schools.

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science (Mr. B. Lenihan)

I am pleased to have been given the opportunity by the Deputy to clarify on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science the position on the provision of special educational needs supports for primary schools.

The Department of Education and Science received more than 8,400 applications for special education resources since 15 February 2003. The batch of approximately 5,000 applications received between 15 February and 31 August 2003 is being considered at present. Priority was given to almost 1,000 cases involving children starting school last September, and all those cases were responded to at or before the commencement of the current school year. The balance of more than 4,000 applications in that batch has been reviewed by a dedicated team comprising members of the Department's inspectorate and the National Educational Psychological Service. Those applications are being further considered in the context of the outcome of surveys of special education resource provision conducted over the past year and the data submitted by schools as part of a nationwide census of such provision.

The processing of the applications is a complex and time-consuming operation. However, the Department is endeavouring to have this completed as quickly as possible and officials from the Department will then respond to all applicant schools. Pending a response, schools are advised to refer to circular 24/03, which issued in September 2003. This circular contains practical advice on how to achieve the most effective deployment of resources already allocated for special educational needs within the school.

In the case of teacher resources, the outcome for each applicant school will be based on a new weighted system of allocation which the Department announced recently. This system, as part of which an additional 350 teaching posts will be allocated, will involve two main elements: making a staffing allocation to schools based on a predicted incidence of pupils with special educational needs and making individual allocations in the case of children with more acute lower prevalence special educational needs.

It is expected that the change to a weighted system will bring with it a number of benefits. The new system will reduce the need for individualised educational psychological assessment, reduce the volume of applications to the Department for additional resources for individual pupils and give greater flexibility to schools, which will facilitate the development and implementation of improved systems and procedures in schools to meet the needs of pupils with low achievement and pupils with special educational needs.

Transitional arrangements for the introduction of the weighted system are being developed at present in consultation with representative interests. As soon as those consultations have been completed, the detailed arrangements for responding to applications for resources will be set out in a circular to be issued to schools before the end of the current school year.

I thank the Deputy once again for giving me the opportunity to clarify the position in regard to the matter in the House.

Schools Building Projects.

Mr. Deenihan

Dromclough national school, County Kerry, is renowned for its quality of education and its committed and dedicated staff. I consider myself privileged to have attended the school. The number of pupils on the roll is 176. The number of pupils who will be on the roll next September will be 185. This reflects the confidence parents have in the teaching staff and the expanding nature of the school. There are 12 teachers, including learning support and resource teachers.

The conditions in the school are inadequate and inappropriate for both pupils and teachers. The prefab at the back of the school, which is 12 years old, has already been partitioned for resource teaching. One of the teachers is teaching full-time in the toilet area of the prefab. The general purpose room has been used as a classroom since September 2003. Therefore, it cannot be used for physical education, art, dancing, computers, music, choir and so on. The pupils are being denied the opportunity to avail of the full curriculum due to the lack of appropriate facilities. As there is no storage space in the school, necessary storage must be provided for in the corridors, specifically the main corridor. This has created serious safety concerns.

The school has an administrative principal and a secretary. However, there is no office. The secretary works in the 9 sq. m. staff room. This room provides for 12 teachers, three special needs assistants, visitors to the school, including parents, and the secretary. The principal works in a recently converted toilet which measures 1.5 m by 3 m and which is unacceptable. The provision of office space is a matter of extreme urgency. There is also no library or materials resource room in the school.

Applications for temporary accommodation have been sanctioned by the local inspector since 2003. The first application for accommodation was submitted on 11 April 2002. This was followed by further applications for temporary accommodation on 15 January 2003 and 9 October 2003, with a reminder sent to the Department on 4 February 2004. The school authorities have advised me that accommodation urgently required consists of four small portacabins, to allow the prefab to be used as a classroom, as recommended by the local inspector, and one 6 m by 6 m portacabin, to extend the staffroom and allow for some office space in the school.

I wish to quote from a reply sent to the chairperson of the board of management on 7 May from the school planning section of the Department of Education and Science:

I refer to your application for grant aid towards the provision of temporary accommodation. All applications for temporary accommodation have been considered by [the] School Planning Section. In the context of available funding and the number of applications for that funding, it is not possible to approve all applications received and only those with an absolute and demonstrated need for additional accommodation were approved. Your application was not successful on this occasion.

Your school's need for accommodation will be considered in the context of a review which is being undertaken of all projects that did not proceed as part of the 2004 School Building Programme with a view to including it as part of a multi-annual school building programme from 2005, details of which will be announced later in the year.

Surely at a time when taxpayers' money is being splashed all over the country, in some cases in a most wasteful and irresponsible fashion, the temporary accommodation sought by the board of management of Dromclough national school, at a minimal cost, should be provided. This is the least the pupils, teachers and parents deserve.

Mr. B. Lenihan

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter as it gives me the opportunity to outline to the House the strategy of the Department of Education and Science for capital investment in education projects and also to outline the position regarding Dromclough national school, Listowel.

The 2004 school building programme at primary and post-primary levels amounts to €387 million and outlines details of more than 200 large-scale projects proceeding to construction, 120 projects recently completed or under construction and more than 400 projects at various stages of the architectural planning process.

When publishing the 2004 school building programme, the Department of Education and Science indicated that its strategy going forward would be grounded in capital investment based on multi-annual allocations. Officials from the Department are reviewing all projects which were not authorised to proceed to construction as part of the 2004 schools building programme with a view to including them as part of a multi-annual school building programme from 2005. They expect to be in a position to make further announcements on this matter in the course of the year.

All projects listed on the school building programme are allocated a band rating to determine their order of priority for progressing through the system to tender and construction. Details of the criteria used for prioritising projects at both primary and post primary levels are available on the Department's website at www.education.ie

Dromclough national school is a co-educational primary school with a current enrolment of 176 pupils. Enrolments have increased slightly in recent years, from 163 pupils in the 1998-9 school year to 176 pupils in September 2003. The school has a current staffing of a principal plus seven mainstream teachers, one learning support teacher based in the school, one shared and two permanent resource teachers, all based in the school.

The school authority recently submitted an application for temporary accommodation. All such applications have been considered in the school planning section of the Department. In the context of available funding and the number of applications received, it was not possible to approve all applications received and only those with an absolute and demonstrated need for additional accommodation were approved. The application from Dromclough national school was not successful on this occasion. The Department approved grant aid in June 2003 of more than €17,000 for roof repairs at the school. The Department also approved grant aid in July 2002 of more than €68,000 for replacement windows.

Once again, I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the method used by the Department of Education and Science in determining in an open and transparent way how projects are included for funding in the schools building programme and to assure the House that the school and all others will be treated in a fair and equitable manner.

The Dáil adjourned at 5 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 May 2004.