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

Special schools will reopen on Thursday, 21 January. I appreciate the stories Deputy Higgins outlined and how incredibly difficult it has been for children with special educational needs over the recent period. We had a very constructive engagement with our education partners, which was done in a very collaborative way, as the Deputy said, and it is of benefit that the schools will reopen next Thursday. There are interim supports for children in special schools. In particular, the reduced pupil-teacher ratio means there is scope to provide a one-to-one online resource, which will be hugely important even if the reopening of schools is now just a week away. In the meantime, that online engagement will be crucial in allowing children to keep their connection not just with the teacher in the special school but also with their SNAs. Clear guidance has been put out and the National Council for Special Education is providing resources to children with special educational needs across the spectrum, whether they are in special schools, special classes or mainstream classes.

I know Deputy Higgins mentioned it in her statement but none of us can underestimate the extraordinary body and volume of work that has been undertaken by the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, the Department of Education and myself. as well as all stakeholders, including education partners, unions, advocacy groups, representative groups, parents associations and everyone. It is fair to say that everyone has a common goal, at the end of the day, which is to actually get in-person teaching. We all know that even for normal children remote teaching is difficult but for children who have additional needs it is particularly difficult.

A plan B was never going to be sufficient. Covid-19 and the pandemic, to a certain extent, tore up many of our best laid plans. Anyway, it is a positive development today because we will see special schools - they are the schools with the children who have the most severe and complex needs - reopen next Thursday. There are ongoing discussions in terms of the logistics and practicalities that need to be worked out. All the resources will be given to special classes, to children in mainstream as well, and in special schools in order that they can reopen successfully and continue their essential work.

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