criticism with the Oireachtas’s Education Committee highlighting, in particular, the failure to implement the right to an individual education plan, the right to an education assessment, the delivery of educational supports, and the failure to have an operable Appeals Board.269 The justification provided for such significant delays was the economic situation and the substantial costs that would be involved in bringing the provisions of the Act into effect. This reasoning aligns with the facts that many of the commitments of the Act are subject to available resources. This is observed through an analysis of Section 13 which sets out that the Minister for Education must obtain the consent of the Minister for Finance, to use money provided by the Oireachtas for the preparation and implementation of education plans.270 This creates “major difficulty” regarding the ability of the Act to meet the needs of all children with special educational needs.271 This is contrary to the focus of the Act, as described by the then Minister of Education Noel Dempsey, which is to put the child at the centre of reforms.272 III.
Educational Needs Assessments and Curriculum Design
Background The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCAA) was established under Section 39 of the Education Act 1998.273 It is the statutory body of the Department of Education in charge of advising the Minister for Education on curriculum design for early childhood education up to post-primary school, as well as assessment procedure for subjects involved in the curriculum. The NCCA works towards the goal of creating the most ambitious and innovative learning environment possible for all learners in schools and other educational settings.274 Educational Needs Assessment
269
Nicole Glennon, ‘Deficit of responsibility in addressing special educational needs of children’ Irish Examiner (Dublin, 20 April 2021) <https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40270880.html> accessed 16 November 2021. 270 Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004, s 13. 271 Andrea Broderick, ‘The Right to Inclusive Education: Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Irish Experience’ (2014) 9 Irish Yearbook of International Law 25, 45 272 Dáil Deb 26 May 2004, vol 586, no 3. 273 S.I. No. 245/2001 - Education Act, 1998 (National Council For Curriculum and Assessment) (Appointment of Members) Regulations, 20. 274 ‘Bodies Under the Aegis of the Department of Education and Skills’ (Gov.ie) <https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/341d4e-bodies-under-the-aegis-of-the-department-ofeducation-and-skills/?referrer=http://www.education.ie/en/The-Department/Agencies/National-Council-forCurriculum-and-Assessment-NCCA-.html#national-council-for-curriculum-and-assessment-ncca> accessed 10 November 2021.
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