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Dáil Debates & Questions
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June 23 2009 Dáil Debates
Parliamentary Questions
DÁIL DEBATES Deputy Olivia Mitchell (FG): I stated previously in the House that I welcome the principle ofintroducing a preschool year for children. All the research indicates that children do betterwhen they have had that opportunity. It is particularly valuable for disadvantaged children.Disadvantage comes in many forms. It may be financial or social disadvantage or due to poorquality parenting. All these children would benefit from such a scheme.I want to speak tonight about a group of children who will not benefit and these are childrenwith special needs. In some cases such children have significant obstacles to overcome if theyare to benefit from later educational opportunities. The contribution a year in preschool canmake for these children is of great value in helping them to cope with either mainstream schoolor a special needs school, if this is what is appropriate. Under the new scheme this is the onegroup which will not benefit. They will be excluded from the preschool year and may beexcluded from playschool opportunities altogether for that particular year.As the scheme is currently devised, from September 2010 it will only pay the preschoolproviders for a 15-hour week. For many special needs children, 15 hours is not a possibility asit is too long a time for them. Even if it is not too long, they will need a special needs assistantin order to attend playschool. The current practice is for them to attend for whatever periodof time the special needs assistant is available to them. The special needs assistants’ hours arebeing reduced. I am not aware of any case where a child had an assistant for 15 hours. Thereality is they have no opportunity to attend because the State will only pay for them if theyattend for 15 hours.They cannot attend without assistance so the most disadvantaged children will be the onlychildren who will not be able to benefit from the scheme. The scheme is not just inequitable,but it is daft and very short-sighted in that it will only build up problems and more expensefor the future and great frustration for both the children and their parents.From the perspective of the playschool providers, it will not be possible for them to allocatetheir limited school places to children who will only turn up for three or four hours a weekand where the State will only pay for those who attend for 15 hours a week. The privateplayschool sector is facing significant upheavals in its business, moving virtually overnight froma situation where they were independent businesses tailoring their hours and times to the needsof their customers to becoming customers themselves of a one-size-fits-all State monopoly.I do not know what forethought went into devising this scheme because it is fraught withissues which have been raised before. If all the children who are eligible for this scheme —numbering between 70,000 and 80,000 — turned up looking for a place in January, only afraction of places will be available. I do not know how Dublin playschools will survive becausethe fee being offered is way below anything being charged in the Dublin area.A scheme that effectively excludes children with special needs cannot be introduced. Theirony is that the very Department which recognises the need for special needs assistants fordisabled children attending school is the very Department which recognises the need for apreschool facility, yet this Department has devised a scheme which excludes the group thatneed it most and who would benefit most.The Minister of State knows the additional burden and stress and worry that a special needschild places on a young, struggling family. Many families are discovering now that their childwill not benefit from this scheme. In the coming months more families will discover that thescheme does not seem to accommodate their children.I have to believe that this anomaly was not intentional and that the Minister will amend thescheme to ensure that disabled children can avail of it. I have to believe the Minister willamend it in a way that does not require either the preschool providers or the children’s familiesto take the hit because many families are wondering whether they will have to pay. Theywonder if their children will be allowed into the playschools because the limited number ofplaces will inevitably be given to those who will attend for 15 hours a week.There is still time to retrieve this situation and I ask the Minister of State to do so as quicklyas possible and cause the least amount of anxiety and stress to the families and parents of thesedisabled children. Deputy John Curran: I will reply on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney. I wish to reaffirm the Government’s commitment to people with disabilities and to the national disability strategy and its long-term goals and objectives which we will continue to pursue in the coming years in partnership with all the key stakeholders. The early childhood care and education scheme is being introduced from January 2010 as a free scheme to benefit children in the key developmental period prior to commencing school. The scheme will allow eligible children to avail of a free preschool place in the year before they commence school. The scheme is open to all private and voluntary preschool services which are notified to the Health Service Executive or registered with the Irish Montessori Educational Board. Participating services will be required to provide an educational programme consistent with the principles of Siolta and appropriate to the age of participating children. As a free preschool year, participating services must agree to provide the service in return for a capitation fee of some €2,450 per annum. The scheme is a general one and participating services will be required to make reasonable accommodation for children with special needs in accordance with the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2004. However, the scheme takes account of a number of issues to accommodate children with special needs. While the age range in which children will qualify for the scheme is, generally, between three years three months and four years six months on 1 September each year, exceptions are allowed where a child has been assessed by the HSE as having a special need which will delay his or her entry to primary school. In such cases, the preschool year relevant to such children will be taken as their qualifying year. Additionally, the general requirement that a child would be expected to attend four or five days each week will not apply to children with special needs where a shorter week would be more appropriate to their needs. Where a preschool service is a specialist one providing a service to children with special needs and additional flexibility in the arrangements for the scheme is required, this will also be considered. Since 2005, the Government has provided significant additional resources for services and supports for effecting real change in the development of services for people with disabilities and as a demonstration of the ongoing commitments to people with disabilities, an additional €10 million was provided in the 2009 budget to continue the development of services for children with disabilities. A critical element of the ongoing development of disability services is the requirement to provide financial support for the development and implementation of a wide range of services provided to children with disabilities. In the current challenging economic environment, there is a responsibility on all publicly funded services to review the way in which services are delivered and ensure resources are used to maximum effect. The HSE and voluntary disability service providers are working together to ensure that all of the existing resources available for specialist disability services are used in the most effective manner possible. This involves a collaborative approach at local health office level in dealing with arising situations, development of criteria for identifying needs in a consistent manner nationally, identification of capacity to increase provision within existing resources, reviewing existing service arrangements in the context of appropriate response and service efficiency and developing innovative responses to meet requirements. There is no additional capitation available under the ECCE scheme to preschools on foot of having children with special needs. However, ad hoc arrangements have been made in some local health offices utilising home support-personal assistant resources to support children with specific difficulties accessing mainstream preschool services. The provision of such supports is dependent upon the assessed needs of the child and the resources available. In the current challenging financial environment, there are many competing priorities and the HSE is obliged to use the resources available to it in the most efficient and effective manner possible. The Department of Health and Children and the HSE are working closely to manage the considerable budgetary challenges in this regard. The cross-sectoral team on disability comprising representatives from the Department of Health and Children, the Department of Education and Science, the HSE and the National Council for Special Education will be considering the provision of educational supports to children with disabilities in the coming months. Additionally, the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs will continue to fund training in the child care sector, including training courses which equip child care workers with the skills to support the integration of children with special needs into mainstream services. Deputy Tom Sheahan (FG): “Let no man write my epitaph; . . . no man . . . knows my motives . .”. This is very pertinent to the current Minister for Education and Science. The parents of special needs children cannot understand his motives for removing special needs classes. My colleague, Deputy Michael Ring, spoke about rural transport and removing necessary services from the elderly. This appears to be the route the Government has taken — it is hitting the most vulnerable in society. It tried to take the medical cards from people over 70 years of age and now it is removing rural transport. A society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable members. Special needs children are undoubtedly the most vulnerable members of our society. The removal of classes is a budgetary measure. I am disappointed the Minister is not present tonight. What will be saved by removing classes from special needs children? We take great pride in the aid we give to foreign countries, yet our own people are suffering. Not very long ago these children would have been locked away in attics and the back rooms of houses or put into mental institutions. A special needs class is being removed from St. Oliver’s national school in Killarney. I can stake all my input into political life that the school is a centre of excellence. Children travel from every corner of County Kerry and even from beyond the county boundaries to the school because it is a centre of excellence. Does the Minister realise the consequences of his action and the consequences for the children concerned? Many parents have approached me to ask that this action be stopped. Some of them are parents of children who have left St. Oliver’s, gone on to mainstream secondary schools, have done well and now have jobs. Some are parents of children who are currently in St. Oliver’s. I have also met parents who are seeking a place in St. Oliver’s for their child, which will not be available with the removal of this class. The principal is put in the position of having to decide who is and is not entitled to a place in this centre of excellence. That is an awful predicament. Will we have to appoint a Minister for Education and Science who has a special needs child to deal with this and to realise what is involved? Another parent called to my clinic recently. I am as tough as any man in this House but this woman brought me down to size. She told me her son is paralysed, has minor learning difficulties and is fitted with a feeding tube. She asked where her child could go when he does not get a place in St. Oliver’s. I could not answer. I would hate to be in that position or for any of my constituents to be in that position. This is due to a budgetary measure by the Minister. Where will the money be saved? The child I mentioned is entitled to one hour of special needs education per day in his national school. The centre of excellence in St. Oliver’s must be retained for the people in my constituency. I am sure this is an issue in every other constituency. The savings are minimal. A child with only mild learning difficulties would be able for mainstream education if they had an I.Q. of between 50 and 70. However, this is not the case and it is up to the principal to decide who gets the places and who does not. The only savings will be in school transport. The parents of the children I am representing would be more than willing to bring their children to this centre of excellence if the class is retained. Deputy John Curran: I thank Deputy Tom Sheahan for raising this matter and apologise on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O’Keeffe, who could not be present. I am pleased to have the opportunity to clarify the position on the matter raised by the Deputy. The Deputy will be aware that allocations to schools typically increase or decrease depending on pupil enrolment. In the case of special classes for pupils with a mild general learning disability, MGLD, the normal pupil teacher ratio that applies is 11:1. The Department of Education and Science, however, allows for a small reduction in this number and permits schools to retain a teaching post where it has a minimum of nine pupils in the class. The school in question has three special classes for MGLD. A total enrolment of 31 is required to retain the three classes. The enrolment in the three classes as returned by the school in September 2008 was 21 pupils. The minimum enrolment required to retain the third class has therefore not been fulfilled and the school no longer qualifies to retain the third special class. The school in question appealed the Department’s decision to suppress the class. The Department has considered the appeal and has advised the school that the decision to suppress the third class remains. Deputy Tom Sheahan: Shame. Deputy John Curran: However, it would appear that some of the children who are enrolled in the MGLD classes in the school in question may fall within the low incidence disability category and may qualify for resource teaching support through the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. Officials in the Department have been in contact with the NCSE and I understand that the school has initiated contact with the special educational needs organiser, SENO, in this regard. I understand also that the SENO will convey a decision to the school as soon as this process has been completed. The pupils in the class being suppressed will continue to receive additional teaching support through the teaching resources allocated to primary schools under the general allocation model. Schools decide how best to use this allocation based on the needs of the pupils and how to adjust their support in line with the changing needs of pupils as they mature. The Department issued a circular SP ED 02/05 to all schools to assist them in deploying the general allocation model resources. The Department of Education and Science promotes a continuum of assessment and intervention. These interventions range from support from the classroom teacher to support from the resource/learning support teacher. Where a school considers that these interventions are not meeting the child’s needs, it should seek the advice of its National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, psychologist. Schools without an assigned NEPS psychologist can avail of the scheme for commissioning psychological assessments. Advice may be also sought from the local special educational needs organiser. The Deputy will be aware of the unprecedented investment in providing supports for children with special needs in recent years. There are now about 19,000 adults in our schools working solely with children with special needs. There are more than 8,000 resource and learning support teachers in our schools, compared with just 2,000 in 1998. More than 1,000 other teachers support children in our special schools. Some 86 classes for children with mild general learning disability are being retained where there are nine children or more in these classes. The Minister for Education and Science wishes to emphasise that priority will continue to be given to provision for children with special educational needs. The establishment of these classes for mild general learning disability pre-date many of the developments in special education policy in recent years and we now have a system for providing schools with supports for children with high incidence special needs through the general allocation model. In raising the matter, the Deputy specifically asked whether there was a need to appoint a Minister who has a special needs child. The Minister of State responding to him tonight has been in that position and had a child in that situation who availed of mainstream education. As a conscientious parent, I did not have an opportunity to avail of this class. However, I can say that the services provided through the other supports provided me, my family and our daughter with a very positive educational experience. I thank the Deputy again for giving me the opportunity to clarify the position with regard to this matter.
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS Deputy Seán Barrett (FG): asked the Minister for Finance his views on introducing a tax deferred incentivised disability savings plan similar to the plan introduced in Canada in 2008 to enable families with disabled children to provide financially for their children’s futures; Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): There are various provisions within the tax code where a person who is permanently incapacitated, either physically or mentally, to the extent where they are unable to maintain themselves, may be able to claim one or more of the special tax allowances available. In addition, parents/guardians and persons who care for dependent relatives may also qualify for relief from tax. Details of these reliefs and exemptions can be found on the Revenue Commissioners’ website at the following link: http://www.revenue.ie/en/personal/circumstances/disability-information.html. Within the various allowances and exemptions relating to people with disabilities are two measures which relate to savings.
As you are aware, all taxes are reviewed annually in the context of the Budget and Finance Bill. However, I have no plans at this time to make the requested changes.
Deputy Richard Bruton (FG): asked the Minister for Finance when he expects to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the action he must take for ratification of this Convention to proceed; if an inter-departmental committee has been established; and the time line for implementation; Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is responsible for the co-ordination of the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and established an interdepartmental working group with various Government Departments including this Department inputting into the process. The working group identified certain areas relevant to my Department. These are (i) to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal access to bank loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit (ii) to prohibit discrimination in the provision of health and life insurance and (iii) the employment of people with disabilities in the public sector.Under the Financial Regulator’s Consumer Protection Code, which came fully into force in July 2007, a regulated entity must ensure that in all its dealings with customers and within the context of its authorisation, without prejudice to the pursuit of its legitimate commercial aims, it does not, through its policies, procedures or working practices, prevent access to basic financial services. Regarding item (iii), a Code of Practice for the Employment of People with a Disability in the Irish Civil Service has been published by my Department and is being implemented by Government Departments and public bodies staffed by Civil Servants. Deputy Andrew Doyle (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will confirm her commitment to adequate staffing of front-line services in the health service; her recruitment strategy that will ensure the adequate staffing of front-line health services; if a review is under way on the impact of the staffing moratorium on the delivery of health services in view of instances in which minimum staffing levels are potentially jeopardising the full implementation of health and safety regulation; Minister for Health and Children (Deputy Mary Harney): In order to implement savings measures on public service numbers, the Government introduced a moratorium on recruitment, promotion, or payment of an allowance for the performance of duties at a higher grade with effect from 27 March 2009 to end 2010. A HSE circular has issued which gives effect to the Government decision in the public health services and other specific aspects of the employment control framework for the health services. The HSE will be focussing on the scope that exists within the health services for reorganizing and restructuring of work in order to minimise the impact on essential service delivery. The redeployment and reassignment of existing staff will also support the reorientation of care from hospitals to the community and to facilitate the development of integrated care. It is seeking a high level of flexibility from staff and unions to achieve this. The Government decision has been modulated to ensure that key services are maintained as far as possible in the health services, particularly in respect of children at risk, older people and persons with a disability. In addition, the employment control framework specifically exempts the following front line grades in the health sector from the moratorium: Medical Consultants, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Clinical Psychologists, Behaviour Therapists, Counsellors, Social Workers, and Emergency Medical Technicians. The framework actually allows for a growth in the number of those posts within the overall approved employment ceiling (111,800 whole-time equivalents) for the health sector. The framework also includes provision for the creation of 225 new development posts this year for cancer and disability services. In addition, special provisions apply in relation to Clinical Engineering Technicians, Dosimetrists, Physicists, and Radiation Therapists, which are specialist grades under the National Cancer Control Programme. The focus on these key grades is in line with existing Government policy on the prioritization of certain development areas, for which significant funding has already been provided. The overall result will be to assist in the reorientation of health employment to services delivered in primary and community care. I wish to advise that as part of the Employment Control Framework for the health sector, the Joint Employment Control Monitoring Committee, comprising officials from my Department, the Department of Finance and the HSE, meets regularly to monitor health employment levels and to review the implementation of the moratorium and any issues arising. Deputy Richard Bruton (FG): asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when he expects to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the action he must take for ratification of this Convention to proceed; if an inter-departmental committee has been established; and the timeline for implementation.Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Deputy John Moloney): It is the Government’s intention to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights ofPersons with Disabilities as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to ensure that allnecessary requirements under the Convention are being met.An inter-Departmental Committee was established in 2007 by the Department of Justice,Equality and Law Reform to advise on and monitor the legislative and administrative actionsrequired to enable the State to ratify the Convention. The Committee has developed a workprogramme that is being actively addressed by Government Departments.The Disability Act 2005, underpinned by the National Disability Strategy, meets a considerableportion of the Convention’s requirements. However, the Mental Capacity Bill, which is inthe course of being drafted by Parliamentary Counsel, forms an important part, in so far as theDepartment is concerned, of what is required to ratify the Convention.Work on what is involved by way of implementation of the various other provisions in theConvention, which are extensive, continues in the relevant Departments. Deputy Richard Bruton (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Science when he expects to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the action he must take for ratification of this convention to proceed; if an inter-departmental committee has been established; the timeline for implementation; Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): An Interdepartmental Committee chaired by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform which includes my Department is currently considering the requirements of the Convention including what action is necessary before ratification can proceed. Deputy David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Science if he has carried out an audit of the number of students with special needs in schools here; if so, if this information has been published; Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): As the Deputy will be aware, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for allocating resource teachers and special needs assistants to schools to support children with special needs. My officials have been in contact with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) regarding the compilation of data in relation to the number of children with special educational needs in schools and the number of children who have been allocated resources. The NCSE has advised that the most up to date figures available in this regard are published in the 2007 Annual Report which is available on www.ncse.ie. Deputy David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Science if he has carried out a study into the admissions policy of schools; Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): An audit of school enrolment policies which looked at issues such as the enrolment of traveller children, newcomer children and children with special education needs in almost 2,000 schools at primary and post-primary level was carried out in 2007. The results were published on my Department’s website in April 2008. The audit also looked at the written enrolment policies of a proportion of these schools and, more tellingly, how these policies translate into practice in terms of actual enrolment patterns. At a general level, the audit finds no evidence of any system wide enrolment practices that give rise to concern. The audit does give rise to wider policy questions relating to:
A process of consultation with the main education partners on possible follow-up policy responses has also taken place. As part of this consultation process, specific questions were posed around the policy issues and possible approaches identified above. The responses received under the consultation process are being considered and it is my intention to take account of all views expressed before formulating specific proposals for action in order to address any anomalous enrolment practice that has been identified by the audit. |
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Inclusion
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