Proposed legislation to guarantee that the educational needs of children with disabilities will be met, has received a broad, if cautious welcome.
The long awaited Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill was published by the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey today and while being broadly commended, activists and Opposition parties have called on the Minister for Finance to ensure that sufficient funds are available to implement it provisions.
The Bill provides for the creation of structures within the education system for children with disabilities to have a full assessment of their needs; a right to have those needs met and a right of appeal if the parents or guardians of the children believe the Bills terms are not being observed. A Special Education Council will be set up to arbitrate in such disputes.
Minister Dempsey said the Bill will help children with disabilities "leave school with the skills necessary to live independent and fulfilled lives."
"This legislation offers us the opportunity, finally, to give practical effect to rights laid down almost 70 years ago in the Constitution; an opportunity to vindicate the rights of children for whom we have a special concern and a special duty, and an opportunity to end, for parents, the treadmill of frustration and litigation," the Minister added.Opposition parties gave a guarded welcome to the Bill but Fine Gael and Labour are seeking clarification on a number of fronts.
Fine Gael education spokesperson, Ms Olwyn Enright, questioned the Bill's provision for multi-disciplinary assessment and in particular the guarantee of assessment by all relevant experts.
"The use of discretion by a health board, the Special Education Council or indeed a school principal would not appear to bear out the Minister's promises of a totally comprehensive and multi-disciplinary assessment," she said.
She is also seeking clarification of the role health boards given they are about to be abolished and queried whether the restructuring would affect the passage of the Bill.
Labour spokesperson on education, Ms Jan O'Sullivan said: "The weakness of the Bill in relation to the education of adults, and the apparent lack of independence of the appeals system, are among other issues which will require clarification."
Ms O'Sullivan said it was "critically important" that assessment procedures in the Bill are "dovetailed" with the forthcoming Disabilities Bill due for publication by the Department of Justice in November.
Yesterday, disability campaigners scored a major victory when they secured a commitment from the Taoiseach that the Disability Bill would be rights-based.
The Bill, which will work in conjunction with today's plan, proposes an assessment board to resolve disputes between individuals and public bodies over the provision of services.
However, if the individual does not get satisfaction from the process then recourse to the courts will be an option.
The move will negate a Supreme Court ruling in the case Mr Jamie Sinnott who failed in his attempt to force the State to provide education services for him after he turned 18. The Court ruled the State could not be compelled to provide services by law.
The teachers union, the ASTI, today commended the "general approach of the Bill" but also focused on the need for additional resources to implement the plan.
ASTI president elect Mr Pat Cahill said: "The development and implementation of these plans will require significant additional resources in schools and in particular will require the provision of adequate numbers of resource teachers."