Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are huge issues with special education teacher allocations and the new scheme. We have all been approached by teachers who got the circular. This was first brought to my attention by Fiona Mhic Chonchoille from Scoil Naomh Lorcan in Omeath. She put it very well:

The new SET model that is coming into play from September 2024 is not supporting children with additional needs. The new model is based on academic results and does not take into account any other needs. The Department will say it is up to the principal to give out SET hours but they do not have enough hours allocated so they either help the children with special or additional needs or they just help those children below the tenth percentile with maths and English. The new model has not enough hours allocated for both. These concerns are widespread among schools in Ireland.

Bay Estate national school, the primary school in the estate I am from, was in the House today. Its representatives also brought up the issue that it initially thought it might lose two special education teachers. It might be able to pull it back to one. This will not work for everyone. The whole point is that we need to deal with a more diverse school setting than before. We need to make sure we put the resources where they are required. We know the issues we have had in not delivering for those with disabilities before.

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