22 June 2011

Dáil Debates

• Leader’s Questions: Cuts to education supports for children with disabilities
• Adjournment Debate: Cuts at St. Senan’s primary school, Enniscorthy, County Wexford

Parliamentary Questions

• Options when no school placement available

DÁIL DEBATES

• Leader’s Questions: Cuts to education supports for children with disabilities

Deputy Finian McGrath (I): Yesterday outside the Dáil I met hundreds of parents of children with special needs. I and other Members of the technical group decided to listen very carefully to their views and to campaign actively on their behalf in respect of the cuts in the numbers of special needs assistants, SNAs, in the education service. They told us of their hurt, pain and genuine concerns. We listened very carefully to them and 16 Members of the technical group were there to support them. Why is the Taoiseach cutting services for children with special needs? Does he understand the upset and hurt of many parents of children with a disability? Has he and his Government thought of the consequences of cutting these services? If a service is cut at junior infant level, it damages the start to a child’s education. Would the Taoiseach, as a former teacher, not agree with that?

The parents of a child with a disability wrote to me recently, saying: “We could go on and on telling you about the struggle of trying to help our son and the roads that we have to go down to help him achieve his potential. Luke is great but he needs help.” How does the Taoiseach respond to those parents? They also said, which is important: “Our biggest fear is that Luke and other children like him will become lost in the system and things in Ireland will go back 30 years where children with special needs were left in a corner.” What does the Taoiseach have to say to that family? Will he change his plans to cut these services and give the Special Needs Parents Association a commitment today in the Dáil that he will reverse the cuts?

The Taoiseach (Enda Kenny TD):  I understand the frustration of parents who have children who are challenged and have particular difficulties. These situations can transform the entire lifestyle of a family. It is important to note that the Minister for Education and Skills has set out the situation. Schools are being advised of their special needs assistants for the coming school year this week.

The last Government decided in December 2010 to cap the number of SNAs at 10,575. There are currently 10,802 posts, which is 227 over the cap that has to be reached by the end of 2011. As the 10,575 cap must be met by the end of the year, that reduction will take place. I assure the House that the existing level of SNAs in special schools will be maintained. I also assure the House that all schools which enrol children with special needs will have special needs assistant support. All such children will have access to the support and no school in the country will lose all its SNA support. Any school that has even one child like Luke will have SNA support. The perception that there are serious cutbacks is simply not true. The Minister for Education and Skills announced 90% of the allocation of SNAs. That means he held back 10%, a total of 475 posts. Those posts will be allocated specifically for children like Luke who need SNA support. The report on the value for money and effectiveness of spend highlighted a situation - the Deputy will know this - where in some cases children were allocated SNAs not because of their particular challenge or disability but for a variety of other things, such as for therapeutic or pedagogical reasons. It became an understanding that schools could get SNAs for practically anything and that system could not continue. I strongly support the SNA system. I know many of them who give great attention, commitment and diligence in helping children who need them. The Minister for Education and Skills will continue that system. The 475 posts that he has held back would address the particular priorities and cases where children need SNAs. There is a reduction of less than 2% in the overall number to maintain the cap by the end of 2011. It is not true to say that schools will lose all their support and that any child who needs SNA support will not have it. They will have it and the support will continue because it is important for the education of children as they move through the system.

…Deputy Finian McGrath:  The Taoiseach said this is about perception. Yesterday the technical group spoke to families on the front line who would be directly affected by these cuts. The reality is that the cuts are coming in this week. There will be 227 fewer posts in the service. That is the reality. There will be a reduction in services to children with special needs…Can the Taoiseach clarify the position? He mentioned other children with different needs. It was a reality and I accept his valid point. If services are removed from children with special needs, they may have to leave school and we will end up paying more money for them in the provision of other services for them…Does the Taoiseach want to go down in history as the Taoiseach who cut services for children with a disability?

The Taoiseach:  Let me confirm for Deputy McGrath that any school that requires the assistance of the SNA support scheme will have it. Any child who needs SNA support will have access to it. I did not have the opportunity, as the Deputy did yesterday, to meet the parents of children from St. Senan’s in Templeshannon in Enniscorthy. Had I had an opportunity I would have had no difficulty in meeting them. There are three special classes for autism spectrum disorder at the school.

There are 13 SNAs catering for 18 pupils in these three classes. This is far higher than the recommended ratio for SNA class groups of one SNA per three children. This is a situation where, given the constraints that apply across the board, everybody has to do more with less. I do not want to see any child who really needs SNA support go without it and no child who deserves it will go without it.

Deputy Finian McGrath:  Is the Taoiseach saying they do not need special support?

• Adjournment Debate: Cuts at St. Senan’s primary school, Enniscorthy, County Wexford

Deputy John Browne (FG): I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise on the Adjournment the loss of six special needs assistant, SNA, posts at St. Senan’s primary school, Enniscorthy, County Wexford, which will cause severe problems for the running of the autism centre there. The school has an autism unit with an open enrolment policy. The principal, Mr. Henry Goff, and his staff allow all children suffering with autism - mild, moderate or severe - to attend the school. The open enrolment policy has served the school well over many years.

When the autism unit was set up, St. Senan’s was approved staff on a one-to-one basis. However, for some reason the Department has moved the goalposts, seeking to divide the educational and care needs of the children. Perhaps the Minister of State will explain what criteria was used in making the decision to reduce the SNAs by six. I, and many other Members, are aware of the excellent service provided by St. Senan’s primary school, the purpose of which is to allow the children eventually attend mainstream education. Children with severe care needs will not be able to attend mainstream classes without the support of SNAs.

The school has been notified in recent days of the loss of six SNA posts. The Taoiseach stated in the House today that there would be a cut of 200 SNA posts throughout the country by Christmas. If one divides 41 constituencies by 200, that equates to five SNAs per constituency. For some reason, however, St. Senan’s primary school in Enniscorthy is to lose six SNA posts. Parents of children suffering from autism and other disabilities have protested strongly about this cut during the past six months. While an appeals system was promised, the school was told when it appealed that no such system was in place. Perhaps the Minister of State might clarify the position in that regard. I was told by previous Ministers and officials in the Department of Education and Skills that an appeals system was in place and that the school would be allowed to submit an appeal, which it did. It has since been informed that no appeal hearing would be allowed, which appears strange to me. The parents have medical reports from Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, psychologists and general practitioners outlining the seriousness of some of the children’s problems, but these were completely ignored by the special educational needs organisers, SENOs. I ask that the Minister of State visit the school, unannounced if he so wishes, to see first hand the importance of the autism centre at St. Senan’s school and, more important, the need to have SNAs in the school on a one-to-one basis.

Deputy Mick Wallace (I): I reiterate what Deputy Browne said. It is grossly unfair. I was disappointed to hear the Taoiseach’s remarks today. Last Friday, I received telephone calls from parents who were crying over this. When I suggested to them that they come up on Tuesday to protest, they jumped at the idea. They had no plans in place but feel so strongly about this matter that more than 100 people turned up here yesterday to protest.

I have no doubt there are abuses in the system. The Government is correct that reform is needed in respect of all forms of extra resources provided to schools. I honestly believe, however, there are many genuine cases, not alone in Enniscorthy or other parts of Wexford but also throughout the country. Come September-October, parents are going to be very angry. The Minister should rethink this proposed cut, which is not fair.

The Irish are reluctant to protest. I do not believe they would do so if they were hungry. However, their children are a different matter. Come September-October parents will be upset when these SNA and resource teacher numbers are cut, given the many other ways in which they have been hit.

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills (Deputy Ciarán Cannon):  I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. I thank the Deputies for giving me this opportunity to outline the position in relation to the special needs assistant, SNA, scheme generally and also in relation to the particular school mentioned by them. As the Deputies will be aware, the previous Government introduced a cap of 10,575 on the total number of SNA posts. This is a significant number of posts and represents an increase on the number of posts allocated in recent years. It is considered that, with equitable and careful management and distribution of these resources, there will be sufficient posts to provide access to SNA support for all children who require such care support to attend school in accordance with departmental criteria. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is responsible, through its network of local special educational needs organisers, SENOs, for allocating special needs assistants, SNAs, to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within the Department’s criteria in allocating such support which now includes a requirement for them to have regard to the overall cap on numbers. The priority criteria for the allocation of SNA posts include ensuring that the minimum SNA to special class ratio is maintained in special schools and special classes; ensuring support for children with incontinence issues; ensuring those schools which require full day cover for children receive full day cover; deferring the allocation of additional SNA supports to schools for junior infant pupils for whom behaviour is cited as the rationale for SNA support, other than in cases of well documented extremely challenging or dangerous behaviour; prioritising schools which have enrolled pupils with newly diagnosed care needs and which do not have any SNA support; and encouraging the effective use of SNA posts, for example, where two or more posts have been deployed in a single classroom. To distribute SNA posts fairly across the school system, it will be important for the NCSE to ensure that schools do not have an over-allocation of SNA posts, as this could prevent them from allocating SNAs to children with care needs in other schools.

I understand the school referred to by the Deputy currently has 532 pupils enrolled, including three classes for autism, which have an enrolment of 17 children. The NCSE reviewed SNA staffing levels in St. Senan’s in June 2010. As a result of this review, 13 SNAs were sanctioned along with the three teachers to cater for 17 pupils in the autism spectrum disorder, ASD, unit. A further 8.5 full-time SNA posts, one infant post and ten hours were allocated to the school to support children in the mainstream. This gives the school a total number of 21.5 SNA posts, one infant post and ten hours. This level of support has been determined by the NCSE to take into account the significant care needs of the children. The previous allocation, prior to this review of SNA posts, had been 17 SNA posts for the 17 pupils in the ASD unit, ten full-time SNA posts and two infant posts, and ten hours were allocated to the school to support children in the mainstream. The revised allocation of 13 SNAs for the three ASD classes will still provide an exceptionally high level of SNA support for these pupils and will still equate to an SNA to pupil ratio of one SNA per 1.3 pupils in these classes. Even taking into account the fact that the children in ASD classes have very significant care needs, this is a very high level of support. The current recommended SNA ratio for special class groups, as outlined in Department of Education and Skills circular 0038/10, is a ratio of two SNAs per special class group of six children for children with ASD. The NCSE has also advised it considers there are sufficient SNA posts to cater for all the children in mainstream. The school has appealed the decision of the NCSE and I understand the NCSE SENO and a senior SENO will meet the school in the coming days to discuss its appeal and its SNA allocation for the coming school year. Where schools have had a reduction in their level of SNA allocation or have not received the level of SNA support they feel is sufficient to cater for the care needs of pupils, the NCSE may review the level of care support. However, whereas I understand that schools may wish to maintain current staffing levels, the NCSE must ensure there is not an over-allocation of SNA posts in schools and ensure there are adequate posts for distribution across the school system. I thank the Deputy once again for raising the matter.

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS

• Options when no school placement available

Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl (FF): asked the Minister for Education and Skills    further to Parliamentary Question No. 200 of 15 June 2011, the options available to a family whose child is in attendance at a school and in view of the fact that the school has advised the parents that it cannot meet their child’s special educational needs if, in circumstances in which the special educational needs organiser cannot identify an acceptable alternate school placement, home tuition would be approved;

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn):  The Deputy is aware that the home tuition scheme provides a grant to parents to facilitate the provision of education at home for children who, for a number of reasons such as for pupils who are awaiting a suitable educational placement. As I have already clarified for the Deputy, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for co-ordinating special needs education provision at local level and arranging for the delivery of special educational services. They act as single points of contact for parents of students with special educational needs. Another specific function of the SENO is to identify appropriate educational placements for children with special educational needs. All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child’s special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.

The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) is the statutory agency which assists parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The NEWB will try to help parents to find an alternative school placement if their child has been unable to secure a placement to date.

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