Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 22 Feb 2024

Vol. 1050 No. 2

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Home Help Service

Deputy Martin Browne

The case I want to address today concerns a young man, Stephen, whose lack of adequate home help support arrangements is something I raised in this House in December 2021. At the time, he was in receipt of one hour per week of home help and two hours per week from the local independent living centre. Since then, he has been left short.

Let me give some background to Stephen's case. This young man has muscular dystrophy. He lives in the same house as his parents with his own quarters where he can live as independently as possible. However, that is being made more difficult by the fact that, currently, the number of hours he is receiving is not adequate, and more so the hours he is receiving cannot be used properly because they are very much hands-off. Stephen receives one hour per week from the HSE home support and seven hours per week from the Tipperary Centre for Independent Living, TCIL. He had been approved for additional hours but despite the fact that all private agencies have been approached to provide additional support hours, none have capacity at present. The additional hours he has been approved for cannot be filled, which is one issue.

The second issue, and probably the most important, is how the hours Stephen is receiving are being used and what practical use they are to him. In light of his disability, he needs a specific type of care, especially in the mornings and at bedtime. In the morning, he needs to be turned and helped out of bed. He needs to have leg movements carried out and he needs to use cough assist. These all involve the presence of someone who can assist him with this. However, none of this is available to him even with the current hours of home support he gets each week. This is because his providers do not have the staff who are covered to do this. The consequence of this is that despite having home support workers coming in for seven hours a week, his parents, Donal and Nicola have to do this for him. They have to physically get him out of bed and prepare him for the day. They have to carry out the procedures that I mentioned.

This is not good enough for Stephen's independence because, as he said to me in an email, he is going on 29 years of age and has no support to allow him to be himself.

I understand that south Tipperary disability services continue to seek a provider that can use the cough assist, but Stephen continues to go without. His family have to fill that gap while arranging their activities around that schedule. Only yesterday, Stephen explained to me that the half hour during which his mother, Nicola, goes to school with his sister seems like the longest half hour of the day, as he is waiting and thinking something might happen whereby his mother has to rush, while he is also stressed out. In situations such as Stephen's, so many things have a potential consequence. For his family, preparations have to be made, if they can be made at all, in order for his parents to be out of the house for any length of time, especially in the mornings and at night when Stephen requires the most physical assistance and help. This can affect the family's ability to do other things, while also leaving Stephen feeling responsible for the demands he places on the family.

My purpose in raising this issue is to see whether anything can be done to address this specific situation. The family needs more hours, but they also need those hours to be attended by someone who has the ability and permission to be hands-on and to provide Stephen with the physical assistance he needs.

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Deputy Roderic O'Gorman)

I thank Deputy Browne for his ongoing advocacy on behalf of Stephen and his family. As he knows, home support services are provided to both children and adults with a wide range of disabilities, from physical and sensory disabilities to intellectual disabilities and autism. The home support service for children with disabilities assists the child with various activities and supports parents. Currently, more than 3 million home support hours are delivered to almost 7,200 people annually.

I am advised by the HSE that Stephen is known to the disability team in south Tipperary. As the Deputy said, he currently has a total allocation of eight hours of support per week. Due to those staffing challenges we all know are there, which are very acute in some parts of the country, the HSE does not have sufficient home support staff in the area to provide the service Stephen needs in its entirety. Previously, an external private provider was involved in the provision of the individual’s care, which included some cough assist support. Following a change in its personnel, the private provider completed an evaluation of all staff members in the individual’s location to identify a suitable replacement match to provide care services, including the cough assist service. Unfortunately, the private provider subsequently advised the HSE that it was unable to provide suitable personnel to match the individual’s preferred specific staff arrangement.

I am advised by the HSE that in the interim, five additional personal assistance, PA, hours from another provider commenced on 1 December last year. I understand that is working well, although I absolutely take on board the Deputy's point that the cough assist, which is the service that is of particular importance and benefit to Stephen, cannot be provided by that PA. Whereas other things can be done, that particular service is not provided. I recognise that.

The HSE public health nurse for disabilities met with the individual’s mother and completed a home visit as recently as 15 January this year. The public health nurse outlined all the private agencies that were approached regarding the provision of additional support hours for that individual. As the Deputy said, none of those agencies are currently in a position to provide the specific service that Stephen needs. The individual currently receives one hour per week from HSE home support and seven hours per week from a second provider, which is funded by the HSE through a section 39 grant. South Tipperary disability services continue to work to source a provider that can use the cough assist for the additional service currently provided by the second provider to the individual.

We have not cracked this yet. We need to. It is very clear from the Deputy's use of Stephen's own words to describe the situation that we need to source somebody who can provide those additional vital services, especially in the morning so Stephen can start his day. I will again engage with the regional HSE following this debate, and will ask for a further update on its work to support this specific service for Stephen.

Deputy Martin Browne

I will make it clear that the family, including Stephen, Nicola and Donal, and I, want to praise the staff that are there. It is just that some of them are not trained to use particular equipment. This is not just being faced by Stephen and his family; there are similar situations throughout the country. There is no doubt that families such as this need the extra hours, but they need to be tailored to suit the patient and family. As I said, families such as Stephen's cannot plan anything ahead of time because if the staff are not there, Nicola and Donal have to be there in the morning and evening. They cannot plan a weekend away or anything like that. It is all about tailoring the services around the actual needs of the patient.

I take solace from what the Minister said about following it up because this has been dragging on since 2021, when I first raised it, for this family. It is not just about the family who lives near me. Throughout the country, there are families who are struggling with issues like this. I do not know whether it is due to recruitment or the type of recruitment that is going ahead. I again stress that the family really appreciates the staff who are coming in and the help Stephen and his family are getting, and do not have a bad word to say about it. It is the system that is wrong and needs to be changed. It is to be hoped that after raising it again with the Minister, and his commitment to follow it up, Stephen and his family will get some bit of solace and other families throughout the country will get the same.

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman

I thank the Deputy. As he said, he has raised this matter a number of times in the Dáil, for which I thank him. I also thank him for his acknowledgement of the work that HSE staff and section 39 staff are doing with Stephen's family. It is important we do that.

As I stated, the HSE provides a range of assisted living services, including home support services, to support individuals to maximise their capacity to live full and independent lives. Home support services are provided either directly by the HSE or through a range of voluntary service providers. In the case of specialised disability services, the majority, approximately 80%, are delivered through non-statutory sector-specific providers. Resource allocation is determined by the needs of an individual, compliance with prioritisation criteria, and the level of resources available. As with every other service, there are real pressures on the provision of home support services. While the services, and the resources dedicated to them, are substantial, they are finite.

The Deputy referred to the staff pressures faced nationally in disabilities services. He is absolutely right. He is probably aware that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and I have convened an interdepartmental workforce steering group. Its job is to focus on identifying and directing efforts to address the immediate, medium- and long-term solutions we can put in place to get more staffing. That is the fundamental challenge we have in disability services for adults and children. Right now, it is not a funding issue. It is the lack of availability of staff. The Minister of State and I are committed to that. The HSE undertook a very positive engagement campaign with graduates who came back to Ireland over Christmas in respect of recruitment in the area of young people's disabilities. Just under 500 people signed an expression of interest to talk more with the HSE. It is to be hoped that programmes such as that can deliver. I will write to the HSE specifically on Stephen's case and will liaise with the Deputy.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

We are in an unusual position in that we have three Topical Issues remaining. I will not list the names. The Minister is present. In the interests of equity, I will adjourn for a few minutes to allow Members come to the Chamber.

Cuireadh an Dáil ar fionraí ar 2.48 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 2.55 p.m.

Sitting suspended at 2.48 p.m. and resumed at 2.55 p.m.

International Protection

Deputy Michael McNamara

This is a matter on which I have been trying to get information for some time now and it has been proving difficult. I asked a parliamentary question with respect to how many persons whose applications for international protection had been determined, and where there no judicial reviews of the decisions, were still in IPAS accommodation. These would be cases where determinations were accepted and were not under legal challenge.

I believe I asked the question in November 2023. At the time, I was told that some 6,000 people granted either international protection or humanitarian leave to remain were still in accommodation and that IPAS was making efforts to slowly transition them out of its accommodation and into alternative accommodation, starting with the people who had received the relevant status three years previously. This does not, however, fully answer the question because there are two other groups of people who are no longer applicants for international protection. I refer to those whose applications for international protection have been determined. These are people who have been refused international protection and humanitarian leave to remain. I have not received a definitive answer in this regard. I was told there were people in respect of whom deportation orders had been issued - a small number - still in IPAS accommodation. However, there is still a much larger group of people in this category, namely, those whose applications for international protection have been determined.

As the Minister will know, the International Protection Act 2015, effectively, has a three-stage process. The first step is to apply to the IPO for international protection and, simultaneously, humanitarian leave to remain. That application is either granted or refused. If people are refused, they can appeal the refusal of international protection, but only international protection, to the IPAT. It is not possible to appeal a refusal of humanitarian leave to remain. The IPAT then makes a determination. Following receipt of that determination, if it is negative, it is then possible to apply for humanitarian leave to remain. This is a process that is taking a very long time. Many people's cases are backed up. The Minister for Justice refuses to tell me how many people are awaiting a determination.

By the way, there is only one week in which to make that application. It is a very short timeframe in which to make the application and this implies there is a degree of urgency in this regard. Unfortunately, however, this matter is not treated like that by the Department of Justice. The Minister refuses to give information but, anecdotally, I am told there are people waiting months and years for this determination to be made. Why is this important? It is because the planning exemption that applies in respect of IPAS accommodation is in respect of people seeking international protection. International protection is defined by the International Protection Act 2015 and it specifically refers to "refugee status" or "subsidiary protection". This is in the case of international protection as opposed to humanitarian leave to remain.

Once people receive IPAT determinations, therefore, be they negative or positive, they are no longer applicants for international protection within the meaning of the planning exemption and, importantly, within the meaning of European law. Ireland, of course, has a duty to provide accommodation to applicants for international protection. Once that is determined, the duty ceases. There may be duties elsewhere, as in the general housing list for persons who are homeless, but there is no planning exemption to move a busload of people who are homeless into an area and avail of a planning exemption. It simply does not exist.

My fear is that inadvertently or otherwise, the system as it now exists is abusing planning exemptions. I look forward to the Minister's response.

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and for offering me the opportunity to respond directly to him.

IPAS is currently accommodating about 27,000 people in more than 200 accommodation centres throughout Ireland. Of these 27,000 people, 5,914 have been granted status. Under the European Communities (Reception Conditions) Regulations 2018, those who have had their applications determined are no longer entitled to material reception conditions. The International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, continues to provide accommodation to those with status, while supporting them to progress into the community.

All those with permission to remain are written to once status has been granted and are advised they must now seek alternative accommodation. They are also advised that the supports of the Peter McVerry Trust and Depaul Ireland are available to them. Those with status for the greatest length of time are currently being offered a transfer to alternative emergency accommodation. In the past 12 months, more than 2,000 people with status have left IPAS accommodation and progressed into the community. This process began in September 2022, beginning with single applicants with status for over three years.

Currently single adults and couples with status over 12 months are being notified of the offer of emergency accommodation, if they have been unable to source accommodation within six weeks of the dated letter. To date, 1,256 households have been written to and advised of this transfer to alternative emergency accommodation. Of these households, 745 have left IPAS accommodation, 96 availed of the offer of emergency accommodation and 415 households are still in the process. Those over the age of 65 or with significant medical or welfare needs are not transferred to the emergency accommodation.

IPAS has a specific transition team which works in collaboration with Depaul Ireland, the Peter McVerry Trust, the Department of housing and local authorities to support residents with status to exit IPAS accommodation and access other housing options.

In the interest of clarity, I would like to outline that an applicant is entitled to accommodation until their application, including the permission-to-remain review phase, is fully completed. There has been some confusion that once the refugee and subsidiary protection decisions have been completed at appeal stage that an applicant has completed their international protection application and is no longer entitled to accommodation. This is not the case. The permission-to-remain review phase and subsequent decisions by the ministerial decisions unit must be finalised. Until all of those steps have been completed, an applicant is entitled to accommodation.

There are also currently 134 people residing in IPAS accommodation who have had their applications determined unsuccessfully and have been served with a deportation order under the International Protection Act 2015. IPAS is informed when an application for international protection has been determined by the Department of Justice. When a deportation order is issued, its enforcement is a matter for GNIB. My Department works closely with the Department of Justice and GNIB to support the implementation of those orders.

Those with permission to remain have the same housing entitlements as Irish citizens. The NGO partners put in place by my Department support them to register with a local authority and, if required, to avail of the housing assistance payment to secure alternative accommodation. They also have the same social welfare entitlements as Irish citizens.

The policy of writing to those with permission to remain once status has been granted and advising them that they must now seek alternative accommodation is in place to help ensure accommodation in non-emergency settings is available to newly arrived persons seeking international protection. As the Deputy will know, we are unable to accommodate a significant number of those right now.

I think I have been able to provide the Deputy with numbers for two of the points he asked for. I do not know about the third category he mentioned. I will certainly endeavour to see what I can do on that point.

Deputy Michael McNamara

The Minister is right that under the domestic regulations, the statutory instrument, there is a right to accommodation until the humanitarian leave-to-remain application has been determined. I have outlined the delays and the difficulties pertaining to that which cannot be laid at his door - the Department of Justice has responsibility. The bottom line is that this is only a statutory instrument which could be changed at the stroke of a pen literally. The Minister has done that and has amended the regulations because there is no right under European law.

We are constantly being told this is a matter of European law and that we have to accommodate applicants for international protection. While that is true, applicant for international protection is defined in European law and it is defined in the International Protection Act 2015 as an applicant for refugee status or subsidiary protection. Once that application is determined as a matter of European law, the person no longer has an entitlement to accommodation. Importantly, a centre accommodating such people, because of how the planning regulations are termed, no longer enjoys exemption.

I am aware that there is a ping-pong row going on. The Irish Times published extracts from correspondence between the Secretary General at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the Secretary General at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage as to who is to accommodate these unfortunate people. The bottom line is that the building is not exempted unless it is accommodating applicants for international protection - not people who enjoy international protection and not people who are waiting for their humanitarian leave to remain. There is no exemption for those categories and yet those people are the subject of an unfortunate interdepartmental row. Also very unfortunate is that a blanket exemption, which avoids the normal planning process and avoids consultation with communities, is being used unlawfully. It is more than unfortunate; it is unacceptable.

That is why it is important for the Minister to clarify that other category I have asked him to clarify. He has said he does not know if he can break it down but he needs to break it down to ensure the exemptions are not being used unlawfully. We have to distinguish between people who are applicants for international protection who enjoy rights under European law and persons whose application has been determined who no longer enjoy those rights. If they are lawfully resident in the State, they may have a right to housing but it is not in an IPAS centre. It is in an IPAS centre but it is not pursuant to European law. If they are staying in a particular place, it is not exempted development.

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman

The Deputy has outlined his reading of the law and I respect that. I do not have the EU legislation, the primary or the secondary legislation, before me right now.

Deputy Michael McNamara

I am happy to supply them.

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman

I have no doubt he could. I do not need him to; I will be able to get them myself. I thank him for the offer. We will examine the point he has made.

On the wider point, the Deputy is absolutely right; there is real pressure with providing accommodation for people arriving here, including many highly vulnerable people seeking international protection here. We also want to support those whose cases have been decided to move on through the process. We have put in place important steps to streamline that process to provide additional supports because it is right that when persons have received status, they are in the same position as someone who is already resident here. They have the same rights and they face the same challenges with securing housing or other accommodation.

The Department is making every effort to ensure where we have accommodation secured in centres throughout the country that we get the best benefit from those centres. We spoke yesterday about ensuring that we got the maximum occupancy in our centres. I spoke again to my officials about that today. They assured me we are going to the extent of moving people individually within hotels, for example, moving a family of four out of a five-bed room and into a four-bed room, things as basic as that, to ensure we get the maximum occupancy because we are under so much pressure right now.

I will endeavour to get that more granular breakdown if that is something we can ascertain.

Deputy Michael McNamara

I hope it will be stronger than strive to endeavour and that it will actually happen.

School Transport

Deputy Jennifer Whitmore

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, for coming in today. One of these days the Minister for Education will come in to respond to these Topical issues. I look forward to that day; it would have been nice if it had been today.

Today I am raising the issue of school transport particularly for County Wicklow. The applications for the 2024-25 year will open shortly. Last year there was absolute chaos in Wicklow when it came to the school transport system. Hundreds of students were left behind when it came to school buses.

Despite having paid for their ticket and having received it, they did not get a place on a bus because there was no place for them when it came to September. We actually saw that in many instances, parents were only told on the Friday before schools were due to start that the school bus was not running. One can imagine the stress that put on families because parents work and have other commitments. They had assumed that a school bus would be taking their child to school. We had weeks and months of trying to work with Bus Éireann to get the bus drivers who were required to get these bus services up and running. To be fair to Bus Éireann, it put enormous work into this and it managed to reinstate many of the bus services after a point in time. Much pressure was put on parents, many of whom I spoke to. One of them had to give up her job because she was a lone parent and had no other way of getting her child to school. Another parent sent their child to live in a different house and town because it was closer to where they could get to school. We can see the impact this had on families. We still have three services which are not running in Wicklow - one service with 53 children and two special needs services - so the problem of lack of school transport provision is still ongoing.

At this stage in the year, we need the Minister for Education to ensure that this chaos and debacle does not happen again in September 2024. We need to ensure everything is in place and there are sufficient bus drivers, buses and services. When parents pay for a school bus ticket in the next month or two, they must be guaranteed that there will be a bus to bring their child to and from school every day without fail. That is very important. What measures have been put in place by the Department of Education and the Minister to ensure that happens? That is my first question for the Minister of State. How he can ensure that September 2024 runs smoothly?

The second issue I am asking about is the reimbursement of fees. A grant is being provided for parents who have had to drive their children to school. Unfortunately, it appears that this grant will not be paid to them until after the end of the school year. Parents are not yet receiving reimbursement for that money as it has to be done retrospectively. That is really unfair. I ask the Minister of State if there is any option for parents to be reimbursed on a term basis, so that on the completion of each term the money is calculated and provided to parents. To expect them to cover the costs of driving their children to school for an entire year when they have already paid for a bus ticket is very unfair. I would like an answer from the Minister of State on that.

Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (Deputy Thomas Byrne)

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta ós rud é go bhfuil an t-ábhar tábhachtach seo curtha faoi bhráid na Dála inniu. Before I address the specific issue raised, I will provide an outline of the extent of the school transport scheme. The scheme is a significant operation that is managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post-primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02 million. There has been an overall increase in both applications and tickets issued for the 2023-24 school year in comparison to the 2022-23 school year.

The school transport scheme is an important service for families and children. The purpose of the scheme is to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remotely from their nearest school. Under the current scheme, children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 km from the school and are attending their nearest national school, and at post-primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 km from that school and are attending their nearest post-primary school as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.

Children who are eligible for school transport and who have completed the application process on time are accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation. In addition, temporary alleviation measures have been continued for this school year, which means that transport is provided where there is capacity to do so for post-primary concessionary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school, are attending their second nearest school, applied for school transport by 28 April of last year and paid for a ticket by 9 June 2023. Children who are not eligible for school transport, but who completed the application process on time, are considered for spare seats that may exist after eligible children have been facilitated. Such seats are referred to as concessionary seats.

A review of the scheme has been conducted with a view to examining the current scheme, its effectiveness and its sustainability and to ensuring it serves students and their families adequately. The school transport scheme has been in operation for over 55 years since its establishment in 1967 by the late, great, Donogh O'Malley as part of the expansion of second level education. This review is one of the most extensive investigations that has been carried out into the scheme since then. Considering how best to maximise the benefits of the scheme now and into the future has been a significant factor in the review of the scheme.

Following phase 1 of the review, temporary alleviation measures were introduced at post-primary level and are being continued this year. Under these measures, which were initially introduced in 2019, transport is provided where there is a route in operation, where capacity exists for concessionary post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school and are attending their second nearest school, and where they have paid and applied on time. There has been an extensive stakeholder engagement process on all of this. An important finding of the stakeholder engagement process was that the special educational needs transport scheme supports many children in attending specialist school placements which they otherwise may not be able to attend.

An analysis of school transport schemes in other jurisdictions was also conducted. This research and analysis outlined the evidence of the need for a school transport service in an Irish context. The steering group has recently completed its work on the final report of the review. This final report includes recommendations on the future operation of the scheme. l am aware that this review is much awaited and may answer many of Deputy Whitmore's questions and suggestions. It is recognised that improvements need to be made to the scheme. I appreciate the importance of doing this. The Minister expects to be in a position shortly to bring the review to the Government, and it will be published subject to Government approval.

Bus Éireann has confirmed that there are 4,450 children on school transport services in Wicklow, comprising 3,907 on mainstream services, 404 children going to special education needs schools and 141 children on services for children who have arrived in Ireland from Ukraine. Bus Éireann has also confirmed that there are particular issues with drivers, etc., and we all know about this. The significant shortage of drivers has affected students in Wicklow and other parts of the country. Bus Éireann is continuing to prioritise sourcing vehicles and drivers but a small number of routes remain without a service, affecting less than 1% of pupils nationally. Services are being provided for over 99.5% of pupils on a daily basis.

Deputy Jennifer Whitmore

With no disrespect intended to the Minister of State, my questions were not answered at all. I know it is very difficult for him because this is not his remit or his area. We need the Minister for Education to come in so that she can provide direct answers to direct questions that have been presented. I asked two questions. First, what is the Minister doing to ensure the chaos we saw in Wicklow last September, and indeed in previous Septembers, does not happen next year? Second, how can she give confidence to parents in Wicklow that if they pay for their ticket, a bus will show up on day one of their child's school term and will continue for the duration of that term? Those are the questions I have asked. Parents want to know the answers because they have no faith in the system at the moment. It is a fantastic, long-running scheme. Hundreds and thousands of children across the country enjoy and have the benefit of it. I know that there are logistical difficulties, such as the issues with bus drivers. There are many difficulties, but there are also huge gaps.

The huge gap we see in Wicklow, which is probably a particularly bad spot for this, means that the Department is putting huge pressure on families and students. I do not think it is fair. It is particularly not fair because it is preventable if the Minister starts putting the work in now to ensure it does not happen again this year. We need to see Bus Éireann actively recruit. When I asked the Minister what she is doing, she said that this is not her responsibility and that it is up to the contractors. I do not think that is good enough because she is the Minister for Education, she is responsible for this scheme and she is responsible for getting those children onto the buses.

She takes the money from these parents and she should be providing the service.

The second question I asked was whether the reimbursement of moneys could be done on a term basis rather than parents having to wait until July. They are owed this money because the Department did not put a service in place for them in time and has not held up its end of the bargain when it comes to the contract parents have with it for the school bus service.

Deputy Thomas Byrne

In answer to the first question on what the Minister is doing about this, in my reply I outlined the quite considerable work that is going on in the full root-and-branch review of the school transport scheme.

Deputy Jennifer Whitmore

That was in September. The review has not been published.

Deputy Thomas Byrne

That is important because the school transport scheme has run for a long time. There were fairly transparent rules around it and, quite frankly, all of us in the House try to get our constituents on a bus when the rules do not provide for that. In recent years, the rules have been extended, through the temporary alleviation scheme, to allow as many children as possible to get on school buses even if they do not comply with the original rules of the scheme. I am very proud of the work the Department has done on that because, as I said, 99.5% of children can use the service.

The Deputy is right when she says there is a gap, but the gap is 0.5%. We do not want that gap; we want to solve this problem. An extraordinary amount of money, nearly €400 million, is spent on the scheme. I do not think people realise that is the cost of running the service, on top of the fee payments made by parents. The fee payments are a small percentage of that. It is a significant scheme from a resource and taxpayer point of view.

Thousands of children in Wicklow are getting the bus home from school as we speak. There was a 12% increase in the number of tickets issued for 2023-24, which is significant. No services were cancelled. Some contractors, including in my area, handed back bus routes the week or day before school started, as the Deputy knows. That is a problem the Minister has not caused but has to deal with.

Bus Éireann engages with the families affected, as do all of us. I am sure the Ceann Comhairle deals with these issues every single September. We all deal with them to the best of our ability, as does the Department of Education. It is fair to remind ourselves how large a scheme this is financially. A huge part of the scheme ensures children with special needs get to their schools, in terms of taxis, individual services and the people who accompany them on buses. I look forward to the review and I hope it can improve the service. That is not to say there have not been problems - there have been - but I am confident this review will work.

Special Educational Needs

Deputy Paul McAuliffe

I am very happy to raise this issue because many schools and parents have been in touch with me about their concerns regarding the recent circular on special education teaching, SET, hours. As the Minister of State knows, five criteria are currently considered, namely, enrolment, gender, the profile of the school, the degree of complex needs and the level of deprivation in the area. The Minister of State might be aware that next year's allocation will disregard gender and complex needs. There is a real concern that this will result in a reduction in the SET hours for many children with additional needs. The Irish National Teachers' Organisation, INTO, disagrees with the reduction in the number of criteria and believes the circular does not take sufficient account of those impacted, in particular in respect of social deprivation or those who do not speak English as a first language, which is an additional criteria that could have been considered.

Anecdotally, I have heard that about one third of pupils in schools will be impacted. During oral questions, I heard the Minister say that 63% of schools would see an increase in hours. Of course, that leaves the remaining 30% not seeing an increase. The implication is they could see a decrease.

We have to be clearer with parents. Everyone in the House is united in wanting the State to do more for the parents of children with additional needs. We and the Minister have come a long way in terms of additional ASD classes in areas where they were previously unavailable. We have persuaded many principals to consider the establishment of ASD classes because it is still a voluntary decision. They have done that, but there is now the prospect of a reduction in the overall SET hours. If I am wrong, I ask the Minister of State to clarify that. These are the concerns that are being brought to me by parents.

I am anxious that, as a Government, given that we have done so much in other areas, we are able to address this. I have raised this with the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, Deputy Rabbitte, and there are concerns across the board. If the Minister of State could address the issue, I would very much appreciate it.

Deputy Thomas Byrne

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and for giving me the opportunity to clarify some of the concerns that have been raised regarding the allocations document which issued on 6 February. At the outset, it is important to remember there will be more special education teachers than ever before in our schools in September next, an increase of 1,000 since 2020. This is in addition to a significant reduction in class sizes at primary level over three budgets to a situation where our pupil-teacher ratio at primary level is now at a record low of 23:1. This means, more than ever, that children with SEN in mainstream schools are best supported to meet their needs.

In addition, the model will now be run annually in line with general teacher allocations. This allows schools to better plan their staffing structures and gives them time to arrange clusters in areas where schools share an SET teacher. There has been a limited change to the method used to allocate SET to mainstream classes. The Department of Education commenced a review of the model in late 2022 to ensure it was meeting the changing needs in special education. This review involved extensive consultation and visits to schools by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, to look at the strengths and shortcomings of the allocation model. The feedback has been incorporated into the revised model.

The allocation model for 2024-25 distributes the total available number of SET posts in line with each school’s profile of need. The model makes an allocation on the basis of a number of inputs, including enrolment numbers. It also uses school-level data from standardised tests to reflect relative levels of overall need. It seeks to distribute teaching resources in the fairest possible way, taking into account quality and robust evidence in respect of individual schools. This ensures resources are in the right place at the right time to meet the needs of children in mainstream education.

By increasing the allocation provided for enrolments, the model is more responsive to schools that have greater numbers of students enrolled. Gender was included as a component in the 2017 model on the basis that there appeared to be a higher incidence of special educational needs in boys. However, since the model was introduced, there have been developments in research whereby it is now accepted that girls may have a similar level of need but this need may not become apparent in the same way or at the same time as it does in boys.

The complex needs input, which was introduced in the 2017 model, was predicated on the provision of data from the HSE's children's disability network teams, CDNTs, on children with special education needs who were assessed or triaged for a waiting list for assessment. The review highlighted significant concerns with the availability and consistency of data provided on a national basis by CDNTs. Only 5% of verifiable data was returned by CDNTs in 2023-24, which meant that schools for which no data was returned, even where there was significant need, might lose out. It also meant that, where the CDNTs' data showed more than 16,500 children awaiting a first appointment with a CDNT, these children, who may be of schoolgoing age, would also not be supported through the SET allocation.

Therefore, the complex needs of children are now supported through the educational teaching needs profile of each school. This profile is calculated based on standardised test data which are collected and held within schools and submitted to the Department. Therefore, the profiles are directly correlated to, and focused on, pupils with the greatest level of need in the areas of literacy and numeracy.

To ensure schools are not negatively impacted by all of these issues, all existing hours assigned for complex needs are being maintained for each school. This exercise strengthens the model to give a sustainable allocation to schools, which recognises where there are significant learning needs. On the calculation of SET allocations, Circular 0002/2024 outlines how school profiles are developed and provides clarity for schools on the data used for each pillar and, where possible, how they are calculated.

Deputy Paul McAuliffe

I thank the Minister of State and appreciate the additional information he has provided to the House. As with everything, we have to rely on experts. On the issue of gender, the evidence clearly shows that is not an appropriate ground to consider. Unfortunately, the defence the Department is relying on for the second factor, relating to complex needs, is that the data being returned by the CDNT is not comprehensive. The great difficulty with that, however, is that this is not the fault of the child, the parent or the school. The Department is effectively saying it cannot rely on one arm of the State to provide it with data in a fair manner and that, therefore, it will remove the criteria for complex needs. That might be a way for the Department of Education to remove an unfairness in the system whereby a CDNT in one part of the country is getting reports and another is not, but the unfairness of the person with complex needs not getting those needs addressed remains regardless of where the child is based.

I find it hard, therefore, to see how the Department can rely on the defence that the CDNT is not returning the data in a comprehensive way as reasonable grounds for removing the criteria for complex needs. One would imagine that if one school had ten children with complex needs and another had one child with complex needs, regardless of their profile data the school with ten children with complex needs would need more SET hours. I cannot understand how the Department will apply the criteria based on the individual needs of the child. I can understand that when a formula is applied across the board, it is about distributing hours, but it is not about focusing on children’s needs. I ask the Department to reconsider how it is going to support schools that have a high level of children with complex needs.

Deputy Thomas Byrne

I reiterate what I said earlier. In order to ensure that schools are not negatively impacted by these issues, all existing hours assigned for complex needs are being maintained for each school, which is an important point to remember. Approximately 98% of all children, including those with special educational needs, are educated in mainstream classes. We recognise there are children for whom a more specialist support is required, which is why we have seen significant growth in special classes, as the Deputy noted. I am proud that in opposition a number of years ago, Fianna Fáil forced the legislation to be changed. It is not just a request of schools to open special classes; the State can now demand they do so.

By September of this year, we will have opened 11 new special schools, provided more than 21,000 SNAs in our schools and increased funding for assistive technology by over 60% in recent years, as well as running an expanded summer programme at a cost of €40 million per annum. At that point, we will have 14,600 SETs in our schools, the highest number ever, and they will work in all mainstream provision to support children with special educational needs. As the demographics change, which will vary throughout the country, with children moving from primary to post primary, we need a model that can ensure the special education teaching hours are where the children are being educated. An annualised model that can allow resources to move to where the children are and is based on education-related data is a child-centred and responsive model to meet the needs of children in schools today.

I acknowledge that every school is different and that schools can experience unique circumstances that may be difficult to reflect in any standardised method. This is always a challenge when we seek to make allocations in respect of 4,000 schools. It is for this reason the Department has also streamlined the review process for special education teachers, and schools that feel they have received an inappropriate allocation can make this application to the NCSE. The NCSE is well placed to manage this work, following the recent investment of €13 million and 161 additional staff.

An Ceann Comhairle

I thank the Minister of State and all the Deputies for dealing with those Topical Issues.