Eoghan Kenny warns replacing diagnosis will burden schools

Yesterday we saw the announcement from Minister Norma Foley that government will replace the existing assessment of need process with a new system. However, I have deep concerns about the proposal announced to replace the requirement for a formal diagnosis when determining access to a special class or a special school. As a former teacher, I cannot overstate the seriousness of this development. This proposal has profound implications for schools, for teachers and for the children and families who rely on appropriate, timely and specialist assessment. Replacing diagnostic criteria with an educational assessment places an unreasonable and unsafe burden on schools. To me, it seems that we will streamline the process of receiving therapies, but leaves a massive void in how special class and places will be assigned. Minister Foley reiterated yesterday that you will no longer need an assessment of need to get a place in a special school or class, instead saying it is up to education on how these places will be assigned. She outlined that some sort of special educational assessment will be established to get a school place for your child, saying it was her hope that the Department of Education would have the new system in place for September 2027 academic year. Taoiseach, who will carry out this new special educational assessment? Will it be teachers or will it be senos? And there is no point in the government suggesting that more psychologists, clinicians or multidisciplinary teams will be acquired, because the government has made that money available to hire in these roles, but the roles are not being filled. I also ask you, was Minister Nocton aware of these changes yesterday or was it a surprise to her, as it was duly noted that there was no representative from the Department of Education at this announcement yesterday? Teachers themselves will tell you that they are not the ones who should be in a position of determining an appropriate place for a child with additional needs. In reality, this leaves parents in a worse off position. They will now be chasing two parallel pathways, one to get therapies they need and one to get the diagnosis and school place they need. Taoiseach, do you absolutely believe that this makes sense? Yesterday, 85% of teachers surveyed reported moderate to high work-related burnout. Are your government now placing this burden on them? Teachers cannot and should not be expected to take on duties that belong to psychologists, clinicians or multidisciplinary teams. This shift undermines the integrity of the entire assessment process and places schools in an impossible position. It also risks leaving families unsupported and pupils at genuine risk of not receiving an appropriate provision they are entitled to. The proposal seems to be driven not by what is best for children, but the inability of the health and disability sector to manage the assessment of need backlog. Taoiseach, who will carry out these educational assessments? How will the Department of Education manage and resource this responsibility? And crucially here, and I want to answer this question, has the process of establishing this new special education assessment begun within the Department of Education? Thank you, Deputy Teacher. First of all, I would reject completely the assertions made by the Deputy in respect of this. I think you're missing the fundamental point. The assessment of needs framework, as it currently is, is not fit for purpose. Recent High Court decisions have made it less fit for purpose. And the objective of the legislation, along with a whole series of other measures, is to prioritise and increase more timely access to therapies for children. That's the fundamental point. Free up therapists in terms of providing services and treatment. And the Department of Education was intimately involved with the Department of Children and other departments under the Cabinet Subcommittee on Disability in terms of this legislative change. We made a very clear decision early on in Government that we're going to do this, and grasp the nettle in respect of this. Because we can go on here for another two years, and people coming in and complaining about this list and that waiting list and that list, and you'll keep on doing that. It's great stuff, wonderful. This keeps going up. The system is completely not fit for purpose. We want to utilise therapists to provide services to children, and we're going to do it. And bottom line legislation is the first step, but there's a whole series of other measures that we're doing as well. And that basically means we're creating statutory guidelines to support assessment officers in making earlier determinations of disability, reducing the need for unnecessary or repeated clinical assessment, proportionate assessments based on each child's circumstances, including the use of existing diagnostic information or reports, allowing for streamlined desk-based reviews where appropriate. Faster delivery of assessment reports provided at the earliest possible point, without affecting anyone's right to an assessment of need, and without changing the statutory time frame set out in the Act itself. We will be doing a wider review of the Disability Act in early 26, to ensure it reflects modern rights-based child and adult-focused supports. A dedicated autism diagnostic assessment panel will be established, a new autism assessment and intervention pathways protocol from 5 February of 2026, ensuring consistent practice across primary care CAMs and CD&Ts, removing the requirement for an assessment of need to access non-health support, such as special classes and school places. We don't want children waiting to get into a special class or a school place, where the need is obvious. We don't want that delay. We want to get the child access to facilities and therapies immediately. There will be 11 new in-reach teams, four staff in each team, to provide expert clinical guidance to the assessment staff. A new single point of access model from 2026 is being established, and Bernard Gostert and HSE have led out on this, giving families one consistent entry route to primary care, to CAMs, or to the Community Disability Network teams. You know we are rolling out the Education Therapy Service in 45 special schools from the new year, and then in the next academic year, 26-27, all special schools will have an Education Therapy Service. And then we have a private procurement of assessment of needs, which will be sought by 20 million in this year's budget. And there's more on top of that, which I haven't got time to elaborate on. The question was simple. Who will carry out these educational assessments? Will it be teachers? Will it be Senos? Who will it be? John Boyle from the INTO said this morning, teachers were not consulted, brief, or even informed in advance of these proposals. It is grossly unfair that government departments are using vulnerable children as political footballs after failing to provide them with timely assessments and therapeutic supports. The question is fairly simple. Who will carry out these educational assessments that were announced yesterday? I never said that I was against what was announced yesterday. I never said that. I never did. What I said was, who will carry out these educational assessments? That was quite clear. You did not answer that question. The question is fundamentally clear. Will the Department of Education have this programme established by October next year? Because right now, to me, it seems like they won't. Because government can't even answer who will carry out these educational assessments. That's the question I'm asking. Will it be teachers? Will it be Senos? Who will it be? Thank you, Deputy. Tisha. Again, you did criticise that, by the way. I didn't. Not once. From the outset, you've been extremely negative. The whole question was articulated in a negative way. I mean, I welcome your turnaround and reverse within five minutes. And in terms of the question, I did say there will be assessment teams that teachers won't be assessing. And I would appreciate if the INTO have issues that engage with us. Engage with the Department of Education. Don't be shooting from the hip. People shouldn't be shooting from the hip all the time. The current system is not fit for purpose, Deputy. And many children will present with special needs from the earliest diagnosis. Very clear that they have special needs. They don't need to be going through elaborate, more, further assessment of needs before being allocated a school place. We do need to streamline this. Therapists need to be freed up to provide services, to engage. That's what we want here. Not endless, long lists of people stuck for six months or 12 months. I mean, we're really, we have to do this. No matter what political perspective you are, the system has to be unblocked. Deputy Holly Cairns.