Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Mannion, Ms McGrath and the other officials from the Department of Education, NEPS and the NESC for attending. I would like to congratulate principals and teaching staff for getting all of our students back to school yesterday. It is great to see the increase in Government investment, which builds on our previous policies. With more than 20% of the budget going towards special needs, as the witnesses have noted, it allows for nearly 1,000 extra SNA posts and another 400 special education teaching posts. It is good that some of those posts are also going into mainstream schools. The school inclusion model is focusing on SNA training and healthcare and educational supports, including nursing, psychology, speech and language and occupational therapy. It is amazing to see how multidisciplinary it is when the supports are in place for our special needs schools.

The most significant issue for me is the lack of special education and special needs capacity for the area around Ballinasloe, where I come from. It covers counties Galway, Roscommon, Westmeath, Offaly and north Tipperary. That is where the students and children who attend these schools come from. How are we going to use all of these extra posts when we do not have a building or space in our area in which to teach the children? I would like to acknowledge and thank the devolved project section of the office of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Madigan, for their support last week for the provision of two classrooms for St. Teresa's Special School in Ballinasloe. However, the school management is waiting to find out about a site acquisition and where a new school will be located. The school has increased in size from 11 students in 2010 to 27 or 28 last year. I ask the witnesses for a brief response, of perhaps one minute, for each of the following questions. I would appreciate a follow-up written response, if required.

I will direct my first question on infrastructure to Mr. Murtagh, director of the planning and building unit. The question concerns the status of site acquisition for St. Teresa's school. What is the position there? Second, Scoil na Croí Naofa is a DEIS band 1 school with a special needs class, but it has been waiting 25 years for a new school building. It cannot take a second special needs class. What is the plan for this area when we are trying to move forward? I appreciate that the provision of the additional two classrooms will accommodate ten students from September 2021. That has been an important step forward, but there are two major planning projects under way.

On summer provision, I will direct my question to Ms Mannion. The plans for summer provision this year were mentioned earlier. We know that the programme must happen this year, particularly given the need for it after lockdown. How much of the programme is done in schools and at home? If it is a voluntary programme how, and in what way, are we supporting schools to take part? Will the 18,000 SNAs that we have help support the delivery of that programme this summer?

On SENO visits, I will direct my question to Ms McGrath. As per the opening statement, it is noted that allocations for SNA numbers will not be reduced for schools for September 2021. It is really positive that SNA allocations will remain in place this year. If this is the case, do SENO visits still have to take place in schools this year, for example, for the end of April, May and June, particularly given that we are trying to reduce contacts in light of public health guidelines?