Results 761-780 of 1,076,378 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Michael McGrath OR speaker:Patricia Ryan OR speaker:Violet-Anne Wynne)

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Keira Keogh: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, for all they are doing to try to move the dial for disability matters and children with additional needs. Fifty-one recommendations have come out of the review of 2004 EPSEN Act. Two decades ago, the Act set out ambitiously to ensure equal access to an education system that would recognise the...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Emer Currie: I held a public meeting about the EPSEN Act in 2023 as part of the review. Like anything involving parents with children who have additional needs, it was an eye-opening experience. I thank all the parents who have reached out to me over the years. The most important question we need to ask is whether children are given equal access to education by the system which supports their...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Verona Murphy: Some Deputies on both sides of the House missed their slots. I will take them in the order in which they appear.

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Erin McGreehan: I welcome the Minister of State to the House to discuss the publication of the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004. The report is an overdue milestone and a wake-up call. Now, 21 years into that EPSEN Act, we must be real. Parts of the legislation have never been implemented. The Ombudsman for Children highlighted in 2021 that key provisions,...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: I welcome the review. We have been waiting for it for a while. I do not want the House to be in this position again of debating legislation from 2004 and 2005. I do not want to pass legislation that we cannot live up to, as we have done with the assessment of need process. There are timelines in the Act that the State is consistently failing to deliver. Whatever we do with this review,...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

John McGuinness: I welcome the review. I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, the best in office. I know he is committed to this area and will ensure that change takes place in the best interests of the children and schools concerned. While the review is being studied, there is no need for a delay or a waiting process. We have to respond immediately to the concerns expressed by parents and...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Michael Collins: We in Independent Ireland stand firmly behind the implementation of the EPSEN review report recommendations. The time has come for long overdue justice for our children with additional needs. We have seen two decades of delay since the EPSEN Act was passed in 2004, yet here we are with the core rights promised in law, like individual education plans and proper assessments, still...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Peadar Tóibín: The Government has had four years to produce a review of the 2004 Act, and God knows how much it has cost. Ultimately, it tells us what we already know. The problem is that the review of this Act is now telling us to review another Act, the Disability Act 2005. It is an incredible situation. The Government talks about the need for a legal, rights-based, inclusive education system but...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Verona Murphy: Thank you, Deputy.

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

David Cullinane: We have a long way to go, although I acknowledge the work the Minister of State has done in the area of additional classes.

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Charles Ward: I welcome the review of the EPSEN Act and many of its findings. Ensuring every child's educational needs are met is imperative. Education should be inclusive and responsive to the needs of all children, but this is not the case in many areas where children with special educational needs are unable to secure school places. I understand the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is doing what...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Brian Stanley: I welcome the publication of the report. However, school places continue to be a major challenge in County Laois. New classes have been granted and I welcome that. New posts have been granted, but accommodation continues to be a problem and there is no timeline for delivery, despite classes being announced. Schools are asking where they can put the classes. Offices, little school...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Ruth Coppinger: There are some positive points in the review, in that children who were appropriately placed felt included and that their needs were being met. It shows that if the resources were put in, many other children and teenagers could feel that. Unfortunately, I have to emphasise the problems. In the review, 60% of parents had experienced difficulty finding a place in an appropriate setting...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Paul Murphy: I welcome the long overdue publication of this report. AsIAm has pointed out that it is worrying to see references to amending the Education Act, which could delay the action we need to see. All parents know, and the Government acknowledges in all its statements, how crucial timely intervention is, but for many it is not delivered. I will take the opportunity to raise an important...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Rory Hearne: The failure to implement key parts of the EPSEN Act shows that, while we remain a republic that has a proclamation that sets out to cherish all children equally, we are a republic of inequality when it comes to children with additional needs and children from disadvantaged backgrounds. They are not getting the education they have a constitutional right to and all the broad elements that...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Aidan Farrelly: I will open with the words of Professor Joseph Travers, who wrote about inclusive pedagogy in Ireland in 2023. He says: Given the exponential growth in special classes and the increase in special schools since Ireland’s ratification of the UNCRPD, a contradiction ... is apparent, which calls for a more radical appraisal of the purpose and role of these classes and schools. He...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Peter Roche: Like others, I welcome the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004. I commend the Department of Education and Youth on undertaking that critical work. Although many positives have been reported, the findings of the review confirm what some families, educators and advocates have long felt. We still need to work harder on delivering inclusive, equitable...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

David Cullinane: I welcome the review report. I also want to take the opportunity to thank the Minister of State for the work done to provide additional special classes in County Waterford. We had a number of debates in the House over the last number of months and the Minister of State committed to improving services. It has to be said, additional classes were made available. That was a very important...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Donna McGettigan: I welcome the publication of this report. However, there is nothing new in it and without political will to implement its recommendations, it will be another report that is left to sit on the shelf. The fact is that the issues and shortcomings in the provision of education for pupils with special educational needs have been identified in the past, and spoken about in this House on numerous...

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Jen Cummins: In recent months, since the Government was formed, there have been announcements about additional school places for children and young people with additional educational needs, be it in special classes in mainstream schools or in special schools. There have been promises that special education will improve. I know the Minister of State and his officials are trying their best in every way to...