Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 June 2023
539. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Education if she is aware of a report published by an organisation (details supplied); if she will respond to the recommendations set out in the report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27638/23]
View answerI wish to thank you for bringing this report to my attention. I have asked my officials to review the report and to consider its findings and recommendations.
It is important to note that the Department has put in place a number of significant programmes aimed at ensuring that young people with disabilities or more complex educational needs are supported effectively to make optimal transitions from their schools.
In November 2022, I was delighted to announce that twenty schools, ten in Galway and ten in Dublin, had agreed to work with the Department on developing the best possible approaches to supporting effective transitions for students with complex special educational needs. We’ve provided each of the twenty schools with twelve additional teaching hours each week to assist them in this work. I am pleased to hear of the enthusiastic manner in which schools have gone about their work in this programme.
We’re also investing Dormant Accounts Funding in a second programme which is focused on supporting effective transitions from school to post-school options. This involves a collaboration with Walkinstown Association for People with an Intellectual Disability Limited (WALK), a disabilities NGO. Working with WALK enables us to focus on the young person in a new way for the education system. By that I mean that their transition is not only supported at the time of completing school, but for a number of years following their transition.
The report refers to the Assessment of Need (AON) process. It is important to note that while schools participate in the AON process, responsibility for the AON process lies with the HSE. Schools contribute to the process by providing HSE assessment officers with information contained in student support files. The information in these files has been compiled in the school from educational assessments conducted by teachers and special education teachers.
