Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for his comments, as well as for his acknowledgement of the progress that has been achieved to date.

On the special classes, I have been acutely aware of this since I came into this role as the very first Minister of State with responsibility for special education. This is really about a collaborative effort with schools via the Department. The Senator will be aware, and I mentioned this in my initial contribution, of the review of section 37 of the Education Act 1998 that is under way at the moment. The majority of special classes, however, are opened through engagement with the schools themselves. It is important to note that since 2011, and the Senator alluded to this, we have increased the number of special classes by 386%. We were at 548 classes, and this year we are now at 2,118. That is a substantial and a significant increase. We want to work with schools to entice them, for want of a better word, to open a special class, to show them that it is in their interests and to show that there are increased capitation supports. It is for the best overall, including for other children and not just for children who have additional needs. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is working proactively with schools on an ongoing basis in that regard. In addition, we have an increased number of SNAs, of whom we will have more than 19,000 by the end of this year, which is a support in terms of opening up special classes. As for schools with teaching principals that have two or more special classes, they are receiving additional administrative support.