Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister and her officials for coming before the committee. Starting with teacher training in special education, which is of course necessary for children, teachers and inclusive environments, the Minister signalled that through the Teaching Council and with guidance for higher education institutions, this could be implemented for September 2026. Is this still on course? My view is that every teacher should have a placement in a special school to build confidence in that environment and to encourage recruitment for special schools and classes. How is the Minister also going to reach qualified teachers? This aspect has been touched on. Time and again, however, we hear about special classes opening, and maybe there is training for the teachers when those classes open but not for teachers then starting to teach in the special class. There are anomalies here that need to be fixed.

The Department has said it must forward plan based on figures showing that one in 20 schoolchildren has autism, which represents 5%. It is up from 1.5% in a decade. I am in Dublin West and I have seen directly how difficult it is to secure a school place for a child with additional needs. What are the Minister's plans to change the forward planning system? Will she break the annual cycle of scrambling for places by instituting a forward planning system based on these projections? She has given us the new timeline and it is welcome that the majority of special classes would be sanctioned by 31 December for September 2026. I wish to flag to the Minister, however, that some schools have said the timing they have been given is 48 weeks of a turnaround for modular accommodation if it requires planning permission. In my experience, in terms of this year, there are schools that are moving quicker. We have seen, though, that this does not always work within those timelines. What is the Minister going to do to ensure these new timelines include building requirements so all children can start school at the same time?

Six national schools and one post-primary school in Dublin West still have no special classes. What steps will the Minister take to address this situation? Regarding the designation of special schools, is the Minister aware that special schools in DEIS areas are not awarded DEIS status, which means they are not getting access to breakfast clubs, home liaison teachers and other supports? We already touched on the fact they are given the status of a primary school rather than a secondary school and this impacts things like hot school meals. The meals children are getting are not suitable for boys and girls who are nearly adults. In a post-primary special class, as well, there is an automatic entitlement to 1.5 teachers per six students and two SNAs, whereas in a special school the entitlement is only to one teacher.

On the allowances for special schools, the Minister did say there is a higher capitation grant, but in a special school the needs are different. A special school might only have six classrooms, but it will have many more other classrooms it will also have to cover. This model, therefore, of the capitation grant being based on classrooms and teachers is not working for special schools. Principals and deputy principals are also paid an allowance based on teaching staff. Taking Danu in Dublin West as an example, there is one principal, one deputy principal and eight special class teachers, but then there is also an exceptional teacher, a part-time post-primary teacher, 35 SNAs, ten bus escorts, one caretaker, one part-time cleaner and one full-time secretary. The allowance for these schools is not covering all these staff; it is just covering teachers. It is also not covering the multitude of costs that special schools have. These schools are also covering three curriculums because they are covering the primary school, junior certificate and leaving certificate curriculums. I believe they are entitled to better allowances and to better designation and status.