Legislation Highlights

The bill sought to amend the Education Act 1998 to allow the establishment of an Educational Disadvantage Committee to advise the Minister for Education on policies and strategies to identify and correct educational disadvantage. This committee existed from 2003-6 and was quite effective, until the Minister ceased to make new appointments and the legislative provision for the committee was repealed in 2012. This bill would have restored the committee, particularly due to the rise in child poverty and the increase in schools with DEIS status.

This bill sought to provide for an annual impact study for every year that guidance counselling provision is provided from within the staffing schedule for second-level schools adopted by the government. Such a study would examine the impact on disadvantaged schools, the effect on progression to further education, which is very topical and is an issue of great concern, training and details of schools that have reduced guidance provision as a result of the policy decision.

This bill sought to regulate the circumstances in which schools may seek voluntary contributions. It also provided that the receipt and expenditure of voluntary contributions shall be recorded in the annual financial records of schools. It sought a balance between the right of schools to accept voluntary contributions to make up the shortfall in funding and the realities for many parents who simply cannot afford them. Any contribution by parents to the operating costs of the school should be voluntary. It would have ensured schools may only contact a parent about voluntary contributions once per school year and may not make further contact in any form to request payment.

This bill sought to provide for an annual impact study for every year that guidance counselling provision is provided from within the staffing schedule for second-level schools adopted by the government. Such a study would examine the impact on disadvantaged schools, the effect on progression to further education, which is very topical and is an issue of great concern, training and details of schools that have reduced guidance provision as a result of the policy decision.

This bill sought to expand the powers of the Department of Education and Skills’ inspectorate to examine and report on the prevalence and quality of individual educational plans for children with special educational needs. This bill highlighted that an individual education plan for children with special educational needs was a straightforward, relatively low-cost measure that could have a significant and positive impact on the lives of these children. It proposed to extend the functions of the Department’s inspectorate to include the inspection of individual education plans for children with special educational needs. It also proposed that the inspectorate would provide data in its annual report on the number of schools engaged in planning and on the standards.

This bill sought to amend Irish abortion law to provide precautionary foetal pain relief in cases of late-term abortions. Medical science has known for some time that unborn children can experience pain from 20 weeks’ gestation. However, recent research indicates unborn children may feel pain as early as 13 weeks. Providing unborn children with pain relief is a small but significant gesture of mercy. This principle is even seen in the values underpinning the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, which ensures vets and farmers are required to use anaesthetics when carrying out any procedure on an animal.