Special Educational Needs Service Provision

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 March 2015

Tuesday, 3 March 2015

Ceisteanna (113)

Charlie McConalogue

Ceist:

113. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will clarify the situation regarding resource teaching hours for children with Down's syndrome who have a mild general learning disability; if she will urgently put the resources in place to ensure that children with Down's syndrome who have a mild general learning disability will receive the same resource teaching as pupils with a moderate general learning disability; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9020/15]

Freagraí ó Béal (6 píosaí cainte)

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

The purpose of this question is to ask the Minister if she will clarify the situation regarding resource teaching hours for children with Down's syndrome who have mild learning disabilities and if she will provide an update on whether the necessary resources will be put in place to ensure that these children will have access to dedicated resource teaching hours from September next. The children to whom I refer have not had such access up to now. The delay of one year which the Minister has announced in respect of the introduction of the new model means that they may continue to be without resource teaching hours unless she decides to make specific allocation for them. I hope the Minister will provide an update on all these matters.

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan

Under the existing allocation system, all pupils with Down's syndrome, including those with mild general learning difficulties, are entitled to receive additional teaching support. Support is provided from a school's general allocation model hours, or from an allocation of additional resource teacher hours allocated to schools by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. In the current school year, my Department has allocated approximately 4,950 learning support-resource teachers through general allocation, while the NCSE has allocated more than 6,200 resource teachers.

I am aware that some parents, and Down's syndrome representative organisations, are concerned that the existing system does not provide certainty as to the support their children will receive under the general allocation model because these hours are distributed locally by schools. I recently met representatives from Down Syndrome Ireland and some parents of children with Down's syndrome to discuss their concerns in this regard. I will be meeting with more parents this week. I will consider and review the issues which have been raised and will keep the House informed of my developing views on this matter.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

I welcome the Minister's comment to the effect that she is continuing to give consideration to this matter. However, it is disappointing that a decision has not already been made. A great deal of consideration was given to this matter by the Minister's predecessor. Parents of children with Down's syndrome who are designated as having a mild intellectual disability were hopeful that the new model - about which many have serious concerns - would assist their children by facilitating the allocation of additional hours. In view of the fact that the introduction of the new model has been delayed, it is crucial that a decision should be made in the next couple of months in order that those children with Down's syndrome who are designated as having a mild intellectual disability - as opposed to those with a moderate intellectual disability, who are automatically entitled to four and one quarter hours resource teaching per week - might be facilitated. Children with Down's syndrome who have mild intellectual disabilities are treated in the same way as any of their peers who may need additional learning support. Anyone who is the parent of a child with Down's syndrome will indicate that extra supports are required. It is unfair that such parents should be obliged to go another year without such supports being provided.

I urge the Minister to make a decision to facilitate the specific provision of these supports. Will she provide an update on when a decision will need to be made in order that the necessary resources might be put in place? Will she also indicate when she intends to make an announcement in respect of this matter?

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan

On the question of children who are diagnosed as having mild intellectual disabilities in the context of the Down's syndrome spectrum, the position in this regard was clearly explained to me by the parents of those children. They also outlined the fact that their children need supports and greater certainty regarding the supports they obtain in school.

On when a decision will be made, I need to examine the overall position quite quickly. This is not a matter which can be allowed to lie for too long, particularly in the context of the need to make provision in respect of allocations for the next school year.

In terms of the Deputy's disappointment regarding the fact that the new model has not been implemented, it became clear to me that we were simply not ready to implement it because we lacked full information to allow us to assess the complex needs of the children involved. In addition, we would not have been able to respond adequately to concerns regarding what would happen in individual schools next September if the new model were introduced. I am conscious of the fact that there are specific issues relating to children with Down's syndrome.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

I agree with the Minister on the concerns which many people harbour in respect of the new model. It is appropriate that the implementation of the latter has been delayed. I am of the view that it should be the subject of a strict examination in the context of how it will work in practice in order to ensure that it will not place certain schools at a disadvantage or lead to a deterioration in the level of support which schools and the children in question currently receive. I am particularly concerned with regard to a specific category of children, namely, those with Down's syndrome who have mild, as opposed more severe, intellectual disabilities.

Brendan O'Connor recently wrote eloquently in the Sunday Independent about what parents like him experience when they bring their children for assessments. Despite their best intentions, they know that if their children are diagnosed with a mild intellectual disability they will not get the support they need, whereas if the assessment results in the diagnosis of a moderate disability, they will receive 4.25 hours of assistance per week. That is a cruel situation for parents because they face the prospect that their children will not have the hours they need to reach their full potential. I urge the Minister to give this matter her utmost attention. I welcome that she met representatives from Down's syndrome Ireland recently but it is important that from this September onwards, children with a mild intellectual disability have the hours they need to develop to their full potential.

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan

One of the issues that emerged for me from those meetings is that while the general allocation model may have been designed to support children who have a mild disability of any kind, parents feel that it is not addressing the needs of their children. That is why it is under active consideration.