Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In the first instance, aontaím leis that there is a dual agenda here. One is to support children with special educational needs, and the second is to support the growth and advancement of the Irish language. We are on the same page in respect of that. With regard to the supports we provide to children and young people with special educational needs, and I referenced it earlier, we have seen exponential growth in the supports that are being made available in our schools. We now have a situation where many children and young people with special educational needs are integrated into mainstream education and that is as we would want it to be. We have seen the exponential growth in the number of SNAs and special education teachers we have. All of those supports are being provided to ensure children and young people can access education in an environment and a manner that meets their needs. We are absolutely agreed on that. That also includes these students having access to the Irish language and it is very much part of their school experience.

Specific supports are made available for students who struggle or have particular challenges around Irish such as the international adult literacy survey, IALS, in the Gaeltacht sector. What we call learning or teacher support is also made available within schools. This is not just limited to the Irish language and is available for English, maths or whatever the case might be. Significant additional supports are being made available in our schools. There is huge growth in the numbers of special education teachers in our schools. They are specifically there to identify the students who will benefit from additional supports in particular areas of challenge to them, including the Irish language. NEPS also provides specific supports and its representatives will go into that.