Fine Gael Disability Spokesman David Stanton TD has called on Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe to allow the Special Education Appeals Board to start hearing appeals without delay.

“The Special Education Appeals Board was established in April 2007 under Section 36 of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004.

“Its role under the terms of the Act is to hear appeals from parents, or schools, who are unhappy with decisions made by Special Educational Needs Organisers about the special needs assistant hours allocated to their child.

“Today I attended the Oireachtas Education Committee meeting dealing with reductions in the number of SNAs in schools across the country. The National Council for Special Education attended the meeting and I had the opportunity to raise the matter of the Special Education Appeals Board with them.

“The National Council for Special Education confirmed that while Section 36 of the ESPEN Act establishing the Appeals Board was in force, the remaining sections which allow it to hear appeals have not yet been implemented by the Minister for Education. Despite having three staff and having received €330,000 in funding over the last three years, the Appeals Board has not yet heard a single appeal. Where has all this money been spent?

“The situation regarding special education appeals from parents is even worse. Not only can the Appeals Board not operate, there is no avenue of appeal at all for parents who are unhappy with decisions made by Special Educational Needs Organisers, nor has there ever been since the National Council for Special Education took over this role. The whole process of decision-making by Special Educational Needs Organisers and SNA allocations seems shrouded in secrecy and wholly inaccessible to parents.

“I have received countless representations from parents regarding SNA hours for their child. I understand that following a successful pilot in a number of schools, the National Council for Special Education has attempted to address the appeals deficit by introducing an internal review process. It also plans to establish a committee to deal with appeals. While this is a welcome move, an independent organisation such as the Appeals Board would be in a much better position to make clear and unbiased judgements on appeals.

“I am calling on the Minister O’Keeffe to immediately implement the remaining parts of the EPSEN Act which will allow the Special Education Appeals Board to begin hearing appeals and offer parents an independent appeal mechanism about SNAs for their children.”