National Principals' Forum

Lobbying Organisation National Principals' Forum

Date published 05 Apr, 2024

Relevant Matter Matters involving public funds

Public Policy Area Education and Training

Period 1 Jan, 2024 to 30 Apr, 2024

Specific Details We lobbied Minister Roderic O'Gorman, Minister of State Anne Rabbitte, Minister Norma Foley & Minister of State Josepha Madigan in relation to recent changes to SET (Special Education Teaching) Allocations from the NCSE, & expressed our concerns that the removal of Complex Needs as a Criteria for these allocations will further disadvantage our most vulnerable pupils and place schools under ever increasing pressure.

Intended results We communicated how schools have been inaccurately profiled in terms of SEN (special Education Needs) for many years & asked for a mechanism by which schools can communicate their SEN data to the Dept/ NCSE be created so that this ever devolving issue can be addressed meaningfully & realistically. We suggested that the existing POD(Pupil Online Database) is ideal for this purpose, & will solve the Dept's problem of not having accurate/current Data from the HSE, which they admit wasn't consistent

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Angela Dunne and NPF Admins

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? Yes

What is the directive you gave to the grassroots campaigners? We asked Primary Principals to sign a petition asking the Dept to gather SEN data from schools using the POD system. 618 verified principals & unique roll numbers signed. Over 730 signatures were gathered in less than 48 hours - the additional 100+ signatures being acting principals/DPs & SEN teachers, all with shared concerns in relation to the changes to SET allocations. This petition was sent to the 4 Ministers outlined above and we asked for their assistance with this issue

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Email (2-5)

We sent the petition via email to Minister Roderic O'Gorman, Minister of State Anne Rabitte, Minister Norma Foley & Minister of State Josepha Madigan. We also sent it to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education. We also reiterated our request for a meeting with Minister Norma Foley and Minister of State Josepha Madigan, which we have been seeking with no avail for a number of years now, to discuss the issues at hand with a view to finding pro-active, reasonable and practical solutions.

Email (2-5)

We also emailed said Ministers in this time regarding AON (Assessment of Need) to relay our grave concerns about this matter. We communicated that while schools(principals) may be identified by NCSE as a suitable person to ASSIST with AON, that we cannot be charged with responsibility for the SOLE educational component for AON, as we are not qualified to assess or diagnose children with educational needs. We sought clarity that an actual educational psychologist would have a role in this process

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Norma Foley Minister (Department of Education)

Anne Rabbitte Minister of State (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth)

Josepha Madigan Minister of State (Department of Education)

Roderic O'Gorman Minister (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth)