The Minister for Education and Science, Mr Dempsey, has established the first National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
The NCSE is to be based in the Minister's hometown of Trim, Co Meath.
Yesterday Mr Dempsey said, "I see the appointment of this council as marking a new departure for the provision of special education services in the State".
The NCSE will have a research and development role and aims to ensure children with special education needs receive their entitlements.
The chief executive officer of the new body is Mr Pat Curtin, a senior official in the Department. About 80 special education needs organisers will also be appointed. These will liaise with parents and schools.
The Minister has expressed confidence that the new council will result in a much better service for those with special education needs. He said yesterday that "it is not enough to increase expenditure on special education. We must also make sure that the structures are there to support delivery of services. In the past, failure to deliver has caused difficulties for children and their parents and we simply must do better."
The Minister said that he recognises that the establishment of the National Council for Special Education will not immediately address all of the concerns of parents and education providers. However, he is confident it will have a real capacity to improve service delivery in the area of special education and will contribute to a client-focused development of existing services. Wider issues posed by education and disability will be dealt with through the enactment of the Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003.
The members of the council are Mr Tom Murray (chairman), a former president of Down Syndrome Ireland; Mr Christy Lynch, a member of the National Disability Authority (NDA); Ms Maise Dooley, a former member of the task force on autism; Ms Mary Grogan, a second-level teacher who now works with the Offaly Centre for Independent Living; Ms Mary Keane, principal of St Dominic's College, Cabra; Mr P.J. Gannon, principal of Scoil Dara, Kilcock; Ms Antoinette Buggle, chairwoman of the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education (NABMSE); Ms Daráine Mulvihill, the ESB/REHAB Young Person of the Year in 2001; Ms Frankie Berry, who works with the National Chaplaincy for Deaf People; Dr Michael Shevlin, acting registrar for the Higher Diploma in Education in Trinity College Dublin; Mr Brendan Ingoldsby, a principal officer in the Department of Health and Children; and Mr Gearóid Ó Conluain, a deputy chief inspector in the Department of Education and Science.