Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will text for it. I apologise. That is my mistake. I will ensure it is included.

The forthcoming NDP review to be undertaken later in 2023 will be key to dealing with the type of issues referenced in the motion regarding project roll-out in future years and addressing any capacity constraints at primary and post-primary level.

I will turn now to other areas raised in the Private Members' motion. The provision of education for children with special needs is an ongoing priority for me as Minister for Education, for Deputy Madigan as Minister of State and for wider Government. This year’s budget for special education stands at more than €2 billion, the largest ever budget to be devoted to special education. This budget supports students across mainstream and more than 2,500 special classes and 128 special schools.

Where possible, all students are supported in mainstream education, with additional supports such as support from SNAs and special education teachers as appropriate. At the same time, we recognise the specific role for specialist provision such as special classes and schools. For this reason, we have pursued dedicated measures to support new special classes and schools. These initiatives are bearing fruit with more than 600 new special classes sanctioned at primary level, almost 300 new special classes sanctioned at post-primary level and five new special schools established over the last three years. I reassure the House that both my Department and the NCSE remain committed to working to ensure that every child who requires a special class or special school place for the coming school year can access one.

There are now approximately 20,000 special needs assistants making a valuable contribution to our school communities, through the provision of adult support to enable students with additional care needs to attend school. On average more than 1,000 additional SNAs have been allocated to schools over the last three years. This is in addition to the more than 19,000 special education teachers working across the education system. The Department is continuing to work on a number of strategies, in consultation with the education partners, particularly Fórsa, to support the work of SNAs in our schools. The SNA allocations for the 2023-2024 school year are being developed by my Department and it is intended this will be advised to schools as soon as possible in April, which is earlier than last year.

Regarding leaving certificate reform, the Government is committed to ensuring that the leaving certificate meets the needs of Irish students and broader Irish society. As the House will be aware, together with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, we have launched a significant reform of the senior cycle, covering the leaving certificate established, the leaving certificate applied, the leaving certificate vocational programme and the transition year programme. At its core, this reform seeks to empower students, enrich the student experience and embed well-being into the curriculum. We have already progressed key measures under this plan, such as removing barriers between the three different leaving certificate programmes, appointing a programme delivery board and partners forum and commencing subject development work for new curriculums.

The Government’s objective is to have at least 400 multidenominational schools in the primary system by 2030 to improve parental choice. In March 2022, pilot arrangements were put in place in a number of areas to identify potential schools and to engage with school authorities, school staff and the school communities with a view to agreeing on a transfer of patronage and change of ethos where there was sufficient demand for this. As the House can appreciate, this pilot has been put in place in order to facilitate reconfiguration within schools and to develop a better understanding of the issues that arise for schools that undertake this process. We are fully committed to learning from this process.

It is worth noting that 52 of the 53 new primary schools established to cater for demographic demand since 2011 are multidenominational and 44 of the 50 new post-primary schools are also multidenominational.

The establishment of a citizens’ assembly on the future of education will be the subject of a Government decision and resolutions of the Dáil and Seanad at the appropriate time. The question of when the assembly might commence depends in large part on how soon the current assembly concludes its work and submits its reports. My officials are looking at how best to appropriately input to the pre-assembly process, including through liaison with the Department of the Taoiseach and key stakeholders across school communities.

The school transport scheme is a very significant scheme and is critically important to many ordinary families around the country. In the current school year, more than 149,000 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. Bus Éireann is communicating with parents and schools directly regarding the scheme for the 2023-2024 school year, in addition to extensive media and social media campaigns, which I am sure the Deputies opposite will have heard. The programme for Government commits to reviewing the school transport scheme and a major review is currently under way. It is anticipated that the final phases of the review will be completed shortly.

Regarding admissions, I have previously signalled my intention to review the provision that allows schools, if they so desire, to take into account a student’s connection to a school by virtue of a parent or grandparent having previously attended the school when deciding on an application for admission to that school. An important feature of the admission process is that all schools that are not oversubscribed must accept all applications. This is crucial in ensuring a fair, equitable and transparent process.

As part of budget 2023, the Department is allocating more than €50 million to provide free books to primary school children and young people within the free education scheme.

Regarding class sizes, I remind the House that in each of the past three years we have had a one-point reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio at primary level bringing it to an historical low of 23:1. This is just a flavour of the proactive progress the Department has made with more to be done.

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