James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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259. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to detail the future provision and timescales for the delivery of additional ASD units in Clane, County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46122/23]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank the Deputy for the question and would like to advise the following:

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for me as Minister for Special Education & Inclusion, for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special classes and special school places are provided.

For 2023, the spend by my department on special education has been substantially increased by over 10% on last year, meaning that for 2023 my department will spend over €2.6 billion on special education. Further progress has been made in Budget 2024 where 26% of my department’s budget will be dedicated to providing supports for children with special educational needs, representing a 5% increase on Budget 2023.

This includes funding to support children with special educational needs in mainstream classes; funding for new special classes and new special school places; additional special educational teachers, special needs assistants (SNAs) and funding for the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS).

In 2023, the number of teaching and SNA posts in our schools will increase with an additional 686 teachers and a further 1,194 SNAs and in 2024 a further 744 teachers, and 1,216 SNAs will be added to deliver up to 2,700 new places for children with special educational needs. This will mean we will have over 41,500 qualified and committed people in our schools who are focused wholly and exclusively on supporting children with special educational needs.

The NCSE has the responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs.

Over the last number of years, my department and the NCSE have introduced a number of strategic initiatives to plan for and provide sufficient special class and special school places.

These initiatives are bearing fruit with almost 1,300 new special classes sanctioned over the last four years and seven new special schools established.

My department engage intensely with the NCSE in relation to the forward planning of new special classes and additional special school places. This forward planning work is well underway ahead of the 2024/25 school year. This work involves a detailed review of statistical data in relation to forecasting demand for special class places, an analysis of available school accommodation, consideration of improved data sharing arrangements and a particular focus on the provision of special classes at post-primary level.

As a result of this forward planning, earlier this year, Minister Foley and l announced the establishment of two special schools for the 2023/24 school year, with further capacity being expanded in 11 other special schools.

Along with the two new special schools, 388 new special classes – 253 at primary and 135 at post-primary level – have been sanctioned by the NCSE for opening in the 2023/24 school year.

Of these, 12 new special classes have been sanctioned in Kildare, 7 at primary level and 5 at post-primary level, bringing the total number of special classes in Co. Kildare to 116.

Specifically, for the Prosperous/Clane school planning area, the NCSE advises that there are currently 11 special classes for the 2023/24 school year – 7 at primary level and 4 at post-primary level.

As demand for new special classes at post-primary level is expected to increase significantly over the next few years, due to increasing demographics and increasing prevalence rates, my department and the NCSE have engaged with post-primary stakeholders in relation to the provision of special classes.

In October of last year, my department wrote to all post-primary schools to advise them of the need to begin planning to provide additional special classes. It is envisaged that all post-primary schools will be required to provide special classes over the next 3 to 5 years, with an approximate average of 4 special classes in each school.

In relation to the school referred to by the Deputy, the school has 1 special education class currently. A project under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme will deliver a total of 4 special classes and is at Stage 1 (preliminary design). The project is subject to the normal statutory approval process and it is therefore not possible to provide an indicative date for delivery of the project at this point.

A major building project is currently at Stage 2b (detailed design) for another post-primary school in the area. This project includes accommodation for 4 special classes – 3 of these classes have already been established by the school. The project is subject to the normal statutory approval process and it is therefore not possible to provide an indicative date for delivery of the project at this point.

The NCSE is committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements will be available for children for this school year and future years. Parents seeking special class placements for their children are advised to contact the NCSE locally so that their needs can be taken into account for planning purposes.

I want to assure you that my department will continue to support the NCSE and schools through the provision of the necessary funding and capital investment to ensure all children are successful in accessing an education.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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260. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the current application related to infrastructure, SET facilities, or provisions at a school (details supplied); the future plans that have been derived from these assessments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46124/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department is in receipt of an application for capital funding under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme from the school authority in question

The purpose of my Department’s Additional School Accommodation scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation.

At primary level, this situation generally arises to cater for a school’s accommodation requirements where an additional teaching post has been sanctioned by Teacher Allocation Section, or the requirement for a new class for pupils with special education needs has been identified by the NCSE, and all available alternative accommodation within the school is already being used for classroom purposes.

The application is currently being assessed by my officials. Once the application has been assessed, the school authority will be contacted directly with a decision.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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261. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress to date in the completion of allocated additional classrooms and subsequent appointment of additional teachers in the case of a special school (details supplied), given that the recent start date for students has now been pushed to mid-December 2023 at the earliest, meaning they have been unable to start school in the interim period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46154/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, my Department issued approval to the school authority in question for the provision of three special classrooms and ancillary accommodation.

The project is being delivered under the Department’s Devolved SEN Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation programme. This programme provides project management supports to enable the accommodation to be provided as quickly as possible and helps to ease the administrative workload for individual schools in relation to the management and delivery of the project.

The overall construction sector environment is challenging and the Department and the Project Management company are doing everything possible to ensure that the project is delivered as quickly as possible. My Department is fully aware of the urgency in respect of this accommodation and will be working with the school to keep it updated on overall project delivery and timelines. While the project is expected to reach practical completion by 20th December 2023, it is a matter for the school authority to recruit sufficient teachers to fill the teaching posts approved by my Department and this should not be impacted by the capital project.

A senior technical official from my Department and the project manager visited the school in order to identify and advise the school on appropriate contingency arrangements to accommodate the additional enrolments pending the completion of the building project.