Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There has been a phenomenal investment in special education in recent years. The budget is now almost €2 billion. One in every five euro we spend on education is for special education, roughly the same as we spend on higher education. In the last ten years the number of special classes has trebled. There will be an extra 1,000 special needs assistants for schools this year and an additional 120 special education teacher posts, as well as 31 speech and language therapists. A huge amount of investment has gone into special education in recent years, and it is necessary. Saying that, however, is cold comfort for parents who do not have a solution for their child in September. Options can often be put together. Sometimes it can involve a home tuition grant. Another potential option can be a place in another school if it is not possible to provide places in the local school. The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, is present and she is interested in this topic. I will ask her to speak to the Deputy directly to see if more can be done because I know the parents will want a plan for their children for this September and for September next year.

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