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

I commend the school on taking the initiative to contact the NCSE in the first instance. If the NCSE agrees in future to open a special class, if there is demand, it and the Department give funding either to reconfigure accommodation or to provide new accommodation. It is also important to stress that when a school is opening a special class, there are additional grants. There is a start-up grant of about €6,500, there is an ICT grant that I think is €6,700, and there are a number of other grants as well. We are always encouraging schools to open special classes. All new schools from this year will automatically provide SEN facilities, so we will not be having a conversation like this in years to come. It will be automatically worked out. A better forecasting model is now in place so we can see where the future demographic growth will be and where that demand will arise in future.

See this speech in context