Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this really important issue. As she has correctly stated, it is an issue that transcends politics. We all want to see the best of education for all our children. We particularly want to see supports in place for those kids with additional and special needs. We have made significant strides in that period. I will come to the Deputy's question directly but I will first put it in context. I recall the level of special schools, special needs assistants and therapists when I first entered the Dáil in 2007. We have moved on substantially. However, we have a growing population and we can be thankful that we also have better diagnosis and early identification of special needs among kids. More supports are therefore needed.

Let us look at what has been done in education and how it needs to be complemented by health measures. More than a quarter of the entire education budget is being spent on special education, as is only right. More than 28,000 children are now being supported in special schools and classes. Since 2020, almost 1,700 new special classes have been established in mainstream schools and 11 new special schools and 7,600 more special education teachers have been provided. Budget 2025, which we have just passed, will add a further 768 special education teachers. We have recruited more than 4,000 special needs assistants since 2020. Again, budget 2025 will fund a further 1,600 special needs assistants, bringing the nationwide total to 23,000. Under budget 2025, nearly €2.9 billion has been allocated to provide additional teaching and care supports for children with special needs.

I agree with the Deputy that we all have families coming to us with issues in the area of early diagnosis and the provision of additional supports. That has been very difficult for parents and kids. We have made a lot of progress but there is still more to be done. We have looked at providing additional therapists. A total of 85 people have already been recruited to these additional posts. We went further in August with the Government decision to introduce the pilot programme the Deputy referred to whereby therapists will provide therapy supports to children in special schools. That was piloted across 16 schools in Cork and Dublin. The first six have been identified.

Unfortunately, there has been some delay in getting therapists on site. There have been some industrial relations issues there. I really hope these will be surmounted. Agreement could not be reached with regard to the redeployment of any current CDNT staff member to the pilot. That is regrettable. There is no doubt that progress has been made but I agree with Deputy Nolan that a sharp focus on this area is needed. Looking at the pilot programme and the difficulty we have had with redeployment as a result of industrial relations issues, people should really put the care of the kids first. We can work out any other issues after that. I assure the Deputy that all of us, as TDs, fully understand. I deal with parents and kids in my area who have had really good outcomes and who enjoy excellent special schools and SNAs, whom I thank for the work they have done. However, there are other families who have been waiting for far too long to get the support they need.

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