Education For Persons With Special Educational Needs Act, 2004

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 30/2004
• Year: 2004

• Full Act
• Act by Section
• Act As Enacted
• Amendments
• PDF annotated
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Number 30 of 2004

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EDUCATION FOR PERSONS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS ACT 2004

REVISED

Updated to 25 July 2022

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This Revised Act is an administrative consolidation of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004. It is prepared by the Law Reform Commission in accordance with its function under the Law Reform Commission Act 1975 (3/1975) to keep the law under review and to undertake revision and consolidation of statute law.

All Acts up to and including Electoral Reform Act 2022 (30/2022), enacted 25 July 2022, and all statutory instruments up to and including Education (Provision in Respect of Children With Special Educational Needs) Act 2022 (Commencement) Order 2022 (S.I. No. 382 of 2022), made 22 July 2022, were considered in the preparation of this Revised Act.

Disclaimer: While every care has been taken in the preparation of this Revised Act, the Law Reform Commission can assume no responsibility for and give no guarantees, undertakings or warranties concerning the accuracy, completeness or up to date nature of the information provided and does not accept any liability whatsoever arising from any errors or omissions. Please notify any errors, omissions and comments by email to

revisedacts@lawreform.ie.

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Number 30 of 2004

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EDUCATION FOR PERSONS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS ACT 2004

REVISED

Updated to 25 July 2022

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Introduction

This Revised Act presents the text of the Act as it has been amended since enactment, and preserves the format in which it was passed.

Related legislation

This Act is not collectively cited with any other Act.

Annotations

This Revised Act is annotated and includes textual and non-textual amendments, statutory instruments made pursuant to the Act and previous affecting provisions.

An explanation of how to read annotations is available at

www.lawreform.ie/annotations.

Material not updated in this revision

Where other legislation is amended by this Act, those amendments may have been superseded by other amendments in other legislation, or the amended legislation may have been repealed or revoked. This information is not represented in this revision but will be reflected in a revision of the amended legislation if one is available.

Where legislation or a fragment of legislation is referred to in annotations, changes to this legislation or fragment may not be reflected in this revision but will be reflected in a revision of the legislation referred to if one is available.

A list of legislative changes to any Act, and to statutory instruments from 1972, may be found linked from the page of the Act or statutory instrument at

www.irishstatutebook.ie.

Acts which affect or previously affected this revision

• Education (Provision in Respect of Children with Special Needs) Act 2022 (22/2022)

• Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 (9/2018)

• Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2007 (9/2007)

• Health Act 2004 (42/2004)

All Acts up to and including Electoral Reform Act 2022 (30/2022), enacted 25 July 2022, were considered in the preparation of this revision.

Statutory instruments which affect or previously affected this revision

• Finance (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2011 (S.I. No. 418 of 2011)

• Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 (Commencement) (No. 2) Order 2005 (S.I. No. 636 of 2005)

• Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 (Establishment Day) (Section 36) Order 2005 (S.I. No. 509 of 2005)

• Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 (Establishment Day) (Section 19) Order 2005 (S.I. No. 508 of 2005)

• Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 (Commencement) Order 2005 (S.I. No. 507 of 2005)

All statutory instruments up to and including Education (Provision in Respect of Children With Special Educational Needs) Act 2022 (Commencement) Order 2022 (S.I. No. 382 of 2022), made 22 July 2022, were considered in the preparation of this revision.

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Number 30 of 2004

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EDUCATION FOR PERSONS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS ACT 2004

REVISED

Updated to 25 July 2022

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Acts referred to
Civil Service Commissioners Act 1956	1956, No. 45
Civil Service Regulation Acts 1956 to 1996
Comhairle Act 2000	2000, No. 1
Companies Acts 1963 to 2001
Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993	1993, No. 8
Education Act 1998	1998, No. 51
Health Act 1970	1970, No. 7

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Number 30 of 2004

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EDUCATION FOR PERSONS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS ACT 2004

REVISED

Updated to 25 July 2022

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AN ACT TO MAKE FURTHER PROVISION, HAVING REGARD TO THE COMMON GOOD AND IN A MANNER THAT IS INFORMED BY BEST INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE, FOR THE EDUCATION OF PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS, TO PROVIDE THAT THE EDUCATION OF PEOPLE WITH SUCH NEEDS SHALL, WHEREVER POSSIBLE, TAKE PLACE IN AN INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT WITH THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE SUCH NEEDS, TO PROVIDE THAT PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS SHALL HAVE THE SAME RIGHT TO AVAIL OF, AND BENEFIT FROM, APPROPRIATE EDUCATION AS DO THEIR PEERS WHO DO NOT HAVE SUCH NEEDS, TO ASSIST CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS TO LEAVE SCHOOL WITH THE SKILLS NECESSARY TO PARTICIPATE, TO THE LEVEL OF THEIR CAPACITY, IN AN INCLUSIVE WAY IN THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES OF SOCIETY AND TO LIVE INDEPENDENT AND FULFILLED LIVES, TO PROVIDE FOR THE GREATER INVOLVEMENT OF PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS IN THE EDUCATION OF THEIR CHILDREN, FOR THOSE PURPOSES TO ESTABLISH A BODY TO BE KNOWN AS THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION AND TO DEFINE ITS FUNCTIONS, TO CONFER CERTAIN FUNCTIONS ON HEALTH BOARDS IN RELATION TO THE EDUCATION OF PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS, TO ENABLE CERTAIN DECISIONS MADE IN RELATION TO THE EDUCATION OF PEOPLE WITH SUCH NEEDS TO BE THE SUBJECT OF AN APPEAL TO AN APPEALS BOARD AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS. [19th July 2004]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

Annotations

Modifications (not altering text):

C1

Functions transferred and references to “Department of Finance” and “Minister for Finance” construed (29.07.2011) by Finance (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2011 (S.I. No. 418 of 2011), arts. 2, 3, 5 and sch. 1 part 2, in effect as per art. 1(2), subject to transitional provisions in arts. 6-9.

2. (1) The administration and business in connection with the performance of any functions transferred by this Order are transferred to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

(2) References to the Department of Finance contained in any Act or instrument made thereunder and relating to the administration and business transferred by paragraph (1) shall, on and after the commencement of this Order, be construed as references to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

3. The functions conferred on the Minister for Finance by or under the provisions of —

(a) the enactments specified in Schedule 1, and

(b) the statutory instruments specified in Schedule 2,

are transferred to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

...

5. References to the Minister for Finance contained in any Act or instrument under an Act and relating to any functions transferred by this Order shall, from the commencement of this Order, be construed as references to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

...

Schedule 1

Enactments

...

Part 2

1922 to 2011 Enactments

Number and Year	Short Title	Provision
(1)	(2)	(3)
...	...	...
No. 30 of 2004	Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004	Sections 13, 19(2), 22(8), 28(9), 36(10) and (11) and 43
...	...	...

C2

Functions transferred and functional areas dissolved (1.01.2005) by Health Act 2004 (42/2004), ss. 59, 67, and sch. 3 item 31, S.I. No. 887 of 2004.

Transfer of functions of specified bodies to Executive.

59.—(1) The functions that, immediately before the establishment day, were the functions of a specified body under or in connection with the enactments referred to in Schedule 3 are, by this Act, transferred to the Executive on that day.

(2) If a provision of an enactment referred to in Schedule 3, or a provision of an instrument made under such enactment, does not come into effect until on or after the establishment day, a function that on the passing of that enactment or the making of that instrument was assigned under or in connection with that provision to a specified body is, by this Act, transferred to the Executive on the commencement of that provision.

(3) The functions transferred by this Act to the Executive include the functions specified in any enactment referred to in Schedule 3 as a function of the following:

(a) the chief executive officer of a health board;

(b) the Regional Chief Executive of the Eastern Regional Health Authority;

(c) the area chief executive of an Area Health Board.

(4) This section does not apply in relation to the functions of the Hospital Bodies Administrative Bureau.

...

Functional areas of dissolved health boards.

67.—(1) An area that before the establishment day was a functional area of—

(a) a health board,

(b) the Eastern Regional Health Authority, or

(c) an Area Health Board,

becomes on that day a functional area of the Executive with the same geographical boundaries as it had before that day.

(2) References (however expressed) in any enactment referred to in Schedule 3 to a functional area of a health board, the Eastern Regional Health Authority or an Area Health Board are on and after the establishment day to be read as references to—

(...