Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for raising this hugely important issue. I will outline what we are doing before I go into the substantive issue.

The Department and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, continue to support children with special educational needs. I want to stress that enabling students with additional needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is an ongoing priority for me and the Government. The number of classes, special education teachers and needs assistants are at an unprecedented level. In 2025, the Department will spend more than €2.9 billion on special education. More than one quarter of the entire education budget has been dedicated to special education in recent years.

The main supports this fund provides are the new special places, special education teachers and SNA posts. More than 3,330 special classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE and 408 of these are for the current school year. This includes 289 at primary level and 119 at post-primary level. Of 124 special schools nationwide, four schools are new for this year and further capacity has been expanded in 11 others. There have been five more schools established in 2025-26 in counties Cork, Dublin, Monaghan and Tipperary. There are two schools in Dublin. The new special schools are a key priority for the Department. This will bring to 16 the number of new special schools opened in recent years. In addition, budget 2025 provides for a dedicated special education innovation fund in recognition of the need to continually evolve and examine best practice to fund children with special educational needs. Funding has also been secured for targeted measures to help children with special educational needs when planning and transitioning to and from the various levels of education system. This has been provided for supporting teachers and special needs assistance in their enhanced training requirements.

In respect of the issue raised, Belmayne Community Special School is one of five new special schools due to be opened in the 2025-26 school year to meet the demand for additional school places in the north Dublin area. The urgency associated with establishing this new school means that existing accommodation must be utilised. This will then allow the school to be opened as quickly as possible. Belmayne Community Special School has been established under the patronage of Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board, ETB. The Department has proposed to locate the school in the existing modular accommodation on the Department's own site at Belmayne, which accommodates Belmayne Educate Together Secondary School. This is an interim arrangement for the new special school and the Department is working towards a long-term solution, including the exploration of the potential local sites options. Phase 2 of the school building for the Belmayne Educate Together school is due to be completed shortly and will provide a full range of modern school accommodation for 1,000 students and at least four special classes. The impact of utilising modular accommodation for a new special school means that some of the external play area of Belmayne Educate Together Secondary School cannot be delivered immediately as intended as part of the new school development, as modular accommodation occupies this area currently.

There is a requirement for a significant increase in the mainstream and special class enrolments in Belmayne Educate Together Secondary School in 2025-26 and in future years. The school will also be required to substantially grow enrolments over the coming years to meet the pressing requirements for special school places. This reflects the importance of using modular accommodation for a special school to maximise the available special classes and mainstream places.

Belmayne Educate Together Secondary School is naturally disappointed with the requirement to it retain the modular accommodation on site, but the Department is working closely with the school patron to support the optimised use of the remaining external area and the significant internal accommodation facilities at the school. Belmayne Educate Together Secondary School has offered the use of part of the new school building. However, this proposal would provide about 20% less usable space for the special school than would be the case with the modular accommodation. There would also be significant technical issues involved with repurposing it to meet the needs of the special school. Furthermore, it would impact on the requirement for significant growth in mainstream enrolments at the school into the future.

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