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Inclusion Ireland has expressed significant concern about the new Special Education Teacher Allocation model (circular 0002/2024 Department of Education).

CEO of Inclusion Ireland, Derval McDonagh explained, “The criteria ‘complex needs’ has been completely removed for allocation of additional resources to a school. The rationale for removal of this criteria is of most concern:

1. Perceived inaccurate/inconsistent data from the Children’s Disability Network teams leading to variations in allocations of teaching hours across the country. This rationale is deeply flawed. The solution to inaccurate data is to work towards making the data more accurate in partnership with the CDNT’s and ensuring consistency, NOT to remove the criteria.
2. The growth of special schools and classes: The allocation model blatantly points out a discriminatory system where pupils who have more significant support needs are encouraged to avail of special schools and classes ‘a significant number of pupils with more complex needs are now supported in these settings, and these elements of the continuum of education provision are resourced separately to the SET model’. Inclusion Ireland have long advocated for real choice for children who have higher support needs to attend mainstream schools. This would seem to completely contradict the new policy advice from the National Council of Special Education, working towards more inclusive schools.”

 

She added: “All policy should be ‘rights’ proofed and child centred. The single biggest theme we find in all of our work is lack of trust. Children need to trust that they will be welcomed and accepted exactly as they are in their local school. Families need to trust their child will get the support they need. Schools need to trust that they will get the resources they need to support all children in their community. Today Inclusion Ireland will write to the Department of Education seeking a briefing on these significant changes and their implications on our obligation as a state under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Inclusion Ireland has previously raised concerns about the reallocation of Special Education Teachers when there are staffing concerns and pressures in a school. We need to resource and equip schools better so that all children can have an inclusive school experience.”

ENDS

Responding to the publication of ‘An Inclusive Education for an Inclusive Society’ this afternoon Derval McDonagh, CEO of Inclusion Ireland said: “We’re delighted to see a direction of travel for inclusive education but it is vital that no child is excluded; from those who require a small amount of support to access their rights to children who require intensive support and who have traditionally been left out of the “mainstream” conversation. Inclusive education includes children who are non-speaking, have medical needs and/or psychosocial disabilities.”

She added: “For too long children with intellectual disabilities have been forced to fit into narrow boxes – special classes, special schools or mainstream. We want to challenge that kind of thinking. It is not the child who should bend to suit the system and fit into available choices, rather the system should bend and flex to suit the child.”

Inclusion Ireland has been campaigning for inclusive education for many years. “We are delighted to see movement and progress with the launch of this paper and now we urge Ministers Foley and Madigan to launch an implementation plan. Unless there is step by step direction on how we’re going to get there over the next 10 years we’ll remain static. We need to put in place measures such as training, education, and resources to create this inclusive culture.”

She added: “We know that many of the complex barriers in education which exist today for children with a disability have arisen from societal attitudes. We must prioritise tackling this and creating a norm that a school supports all children from the local community regardless of support need. Real inclusion is a set of values, it is a set of beliefs; you belong here, we will support and accept you as you are, we will not give up on you. We need government, departments, organisations, schools, parents and communities to really get behind this vision for a time when all children get to go to school together.”

Earlier today the Minister for Education Norma Foley, T.D. and the Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion, Josepha Madigan, T.D. welcomed the publication of the NCSE’s policy advice paper. The policy advice was requested in 2018 by the then Minister for Education and NCSE. The advice was requested in the context of Ireland’s ratification in 2018 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and on foot of significant growth in the number of special classes being opened in schools.

ENDS

Editor’s notes: gov.ie – Ministers Foley and Madigan welcome publication of NCSE policy advice paper – ‘An Inclusive Education for an Inclusive Society’ (www.gov.ie)

The Minister for Special Education and Inclusion, Ms Josepha Madigan has asked a group of researchers from the School of Education at University College Dublin to explore people’s experiences of the EPSEN Act, 2004. This will be done using focus group research.

The EPSEN Act, 2004 was introduced to ensure that children with special educational needs are supported in schools.

We want to hear about your experiences of the EPSEN Act, 2004.

You can read more in these invitation flyers.

EPSEN Invitation Flyer

EPSEN Invitation Flyer (As Gaeilge)

Please reach out directly to UCD at epsen@ucd.ie to express your interest in joining these focus groups.

The Inclusion Ireland Self-Advocacy Committee are holding an event for International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Monday the 4th of December.

The event is about access and inclusion for people with Intellectual Disabilities in the community.

It will be called Access to Your Community.

The event will be on Monday 4th December from 11am until 3pm at The Dargan Theatre in Trinity Business School in Dublin.

We would like to hear from you about what helps you to be part of a community and what are the barriers to being part of a community.

If you want to share your story you can write a story or poem, record a video or do a painting telling us your story.
A video should not be longer than 4 minutes.

We might show your piece at the event.

You can email your story or video to emer@inclusionireland.ie or send it by post to Inclusion Ireland Unit C2, The Steelworks, Foley Street, Dublin 1.

The closing date for sending your story to us is 14th November 2023.

You can access an Easy to Read document about the Call for Submissions here.

Speaking about the impending strike action which will involve thousands of health and community workers, CEO Derval McDonagh said: “At the top of our mind are children and adults with a disability, particularly those who rely on support to access their rights and live a healthy life. We want the people supporting them to be paid fairly and equally so that vacancies are filled, turnover is tackled, and essential support is delivered to the thousands who require critical disability and mental health services.”

Inclusion Ireland met with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions yesterday to receive a briefing on the upcoming action.

“We will keep our members and supporters updated and we remain hopeful a resolution from Government will be found before next Tuesday. Government need to act now with the urgency this deserves.”

Inclusion Ireland works towards the full inclusion of people with an intellectual disability by supporting people to have their voices

For interview, please contact;

Lucinda Murrihy, Head of Communication on 086 824 8408.

Update: Read about Inclusion Irelands submission for this years Budget 2025

 

Inclusion Ireland has labelled the €12 increase in disability and carers allowance “a disturbing blow to human rights” for those with a disability. CEO, Derval McDonagh added that: “tokenistic once-off payments ignore the plight of exclusion and inequality that exists in Ireland today. Budget 2024 has abandoned disabled people living well below the poverty line, and marginalised carers already carrying the weight of broken systems”.

Inclusion Ireland has been campaigning for months for the disability allowance to match the poverty threshold of €291.50, and proposed a permanent cost of disability payment. “The marginal increase is far from what is required to prevent the many disabled citizens slipping into poverty. Many of our members consider a weekly food shop a luxury.

The Covid pandemic has highlighted the important role Ireland’s social protection system can play in protecting people from poverty. However, the considerable gap between the €350 Pandemic Unemployment Payment and the current rate of €232 for the disability allowance sends a clear signal that disabled people are not seen as equals to other Irish citizens.”

She added: “The cost of disability, coupled with an epic failure to provide therapeutic support is pushing many families into financial despair. These are depleted people with intellectual disabilities and their families fighting, hounding, begging to access the same opportunities as everyone else. Children with intellectual disabilities living their lives in poverty as their families fight daily battles to get access to the basic income and therapeutic support their child needs to live a full and healthy life”

Speaking about housing, Ms. McDonagh said: “We heard an announcement of ’90 additional residential places’. We know that there are thousands of people living in institutions or who are living at home with family carers who need to move into a home of their own. This is urgent and a necessary human rights imperative. Sadly we only see a sticking plaster today.

“Budget 2024 has delivered a disturbing blow to the very people who face a never-ending daily cycle of pleading for their rights to be met. What will it take for Government to listen?”

Inclusion Ireland works towards the full inclusion of people with an intellectual disability by supporting people to have their voices heard and advocating for rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

Tuesday 5th of September 2023

Inclusion Ireland were saddened, shocked but not surprised to read the ‘Nowhere to Turn’ report released by the Ombudsman for Children today.

The report details the harrowing circumstances where children with intellectual disabilities and their families are left with nowhere to turn other than admitting their child to hospital when they need support. The stories in the report speak of children being ‘medicated’ or chemically restrained and children spending months in a ward in hospital even though they have no medical reason to be there. This is an abject failure on behalf of the state to plan for children’s futures.

Derval McDonagh, CEO of Inclusion Ireland states:

‘Sadly, this has been happening for years. In 2023, it is a stain on our country that children with intellectual disabilities have to go through this trauma, especially when their families have cried out for help, often for years.

Many of these children cannot rely on speech to communicate and need support in all aspects of their daily life. This does not make them any less of a child – although their treatment is dehumanising. Band aid solutions are not the way forward, they might provide some support in the short term but do nothing to support the child in the long term to have a decent quality of life as part of a supported loving family.

The only solution is a careful plan with each child and family that takes into consideration their unique circumstances and needs. Planning with children and families needs to happen as early as possible, with tailor-made solutions for each child. Sadly in the system we have currently, we continue to lurch from crisis to crisis landing to emergency responses which cannot by their nature focus on the rights and dignity of the child.’

Where is the child’s voice in all of this? We are calling on Government to publish, in advance of the budget, the Disability Capacity Review Action Plan. This at least goes some way towards beginning the process of planning with people over time, rather than fire fighting. We have to do better by these children.

Inclusion Ireland will write to the various Ministers and the HSE today again and highlight our call for immediate, urgent action. We will also push for the development of a children’s advocacy service, children must be supported to have their voices heard.

The full report ‘Nowhere to Turn’ is available on the Ombudsman for Children website at this link: https://www.oco.ie/library/6483/#

For further information, contact Caoimhe Suipéil, Communications Officer, Inclusion Ireland at 086-2265813 or caoimhe@inclusionireland.ie 

Wednesday 16th of August 2023

As we enter the planning phase for Budget 2024, it is important to reflect on the real-world issues facing people with intellectual disabilities and their families.

In putting together Inclusion Ireland’s Budget Submission for 2024 we consulted with people with intellectual disabilities and their families.

Housing was one of the main concerns for people who completed our survey. Our survey found that:

• 72% of people with intellectual disabilities said that they were living with their family and 40% of these individuals wanted to move out.
• 51% of respondents who support people with intellectual disabilities said that the person was living with a family member, with 15% of respondents living with a parent over the age of 70.
• Only about a third of people who said they wanted to move house were actually on a housing waiting list. Nearly half of those on the housing list had been on it for more than 5 years including nearly 20% of people who are waiting over 10 years.
• Respondents who support people with intellectual disabilities were asked to identify the main barriers to housing and independent living. Our respondents pointed to a lack of:
  • 41.5% support package/services.
  • 11.5% funding for Personal Assistant hours.

Article 19 of the UNCRPD reaffirms the right of people with disabilities to live independently, to be included in the community with the supports needed to live a good life.

Around 3500 people are still living in congregated/institutional settings (2,279 according to HIQA Annual Report 2022) or unsuitably placed in nursing homes (300 according to the Wasted Lives Report) while thousands of others are living with families, including older family carers, and have been waiting for many years to move into a home of their own.Beyond the numbers, much of the current model of service provision is outdated and disempowers people with intellectual disabilities. “Services” need to be deeply transformed to better allow the allocation of funds to beneficiaries and their advocates/ families through personal budgets and creative community-based models of support.

There is a need for a transition from “service provision” where the disabled person passively “receives” a service towards a person led approach in the way in services are designed, provided, and monitored.

We call for a fully costed and funded plan to support the remaining residents from congregated settings and inappropriately placed in nursing homes into community settings over a five-year period.

This plan would include:

• A number of places for services available:
  • 450 residential places for people coming from congregated settings
  • 300 places for people moving out from nursing homes
  • 90 new supported living packages to match demographic changes
  • 20% increase from current levels of provision of personal assistance hours and home support
• An increase in the number of personalised budget arrangements allocated so that people can continue to live in their own homes and/or with family members leading self-directed lives outside of “traditional/residential” arrangements.
• Ensure the training of all staff working with disabled people in services around the UNCRPD and a rights based, inclusive and community first approach.
• Fund organisations which have a track record of delivery on community and rights-based approaches.
• Capacity building/training and support must be made available to individuals who require it to support their independent living. This should include managing a home budget, home maintenance, community inclusion, using transport, etc. Funds should be made available to provide this practical support.
• Review the criteria to grant access to personal assistance hours. Personal assistance should be based on needs, not diagnosis.

“A disabled person should be able to access supports to live independently regardless of their level of impairment or support need once they reach the top of the housing list. The new housing strategy for disabled people has to ensure equity of access to housing, no matter what level of support a person needs, otherwise the strategy is potentially discriminatory.”

Derval McDonagh, CEO, Inclusion Ireland

You  will find Inclusion Ireland’s full Budget Submission for 2024 on our website here: https://inclusionireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Budget-Submission-2024-Final.pdf

For further information contact Caoimhe Suipéil, Communications Officer, Inclusion Ireland at 086-2265813 or caoimhe@inclusionireland.ie 

Each Year the Government bring out a report they call the Budget.

The Budget tells us what the Government will spend money on for 2024.

We want to know what you think.

We want to know what is important to you.

There are 3 options for filling out the survey, on the first screen please choose whichever option is most relevant to you:

1. Person with an intellectual disability
2. Parent/ supporter of a child with an intellectual disability
3. Parent / supporter of an adult with an intellectual disability

Please fill this survey out by Sunday 21st of May.

This is the link to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MCL96T5

Thank you for taking part.