Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"notes that: — a child's right to education is enshrined in the Constitution and, under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, must be accessible on an equal basis with others in the community in which they live; and

— the Government is committed to ensuring that each child with a Special Educational Need (SEN) has an appropriate school place, in line with their constitutional right and Programme for Government commitments; further notes: — the continued significant State investment of €2.9 billion in supporting the provision of special education, a 48 per cent increase since 2020;

— the significant increases in the allocation of special education teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to support children with SEN in our schools which facilitates the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in prioritising the allocation of all of these resources to children with the greatest level of need;

— the strategic initiatives introduced to provide for the continued accelerated delivery of special class places in mainstream schools and special school places with the number of special classes having doubled over the last five years, and 16 new special schools being established;

— Budget 2025 provided for up to 2,700 additional special education placements to include, 400 new special classes in mainstream schools and 300 additional special school places;

— the fact that 399 of these new special classes are now sanctioned for the coming school year, three months earlier than previously thought, and that significant progress is being made in relation to the establishment of five new special schools and the expansion of provision in other special schools;

— the intention to use Section 37A to compel a school who has available accommodation and has been engaged with over an extended period to open special classes;

— the fact that over 3,700 new special classes will be available across the country for the coming school year which should ensure that children can access a special class in their local area;

— the significant investment in the expansion of staffing at the NCSE to assist families of children with SENs in all aspects of their educational journey, including accessing a placement appropriate to their needs;

— the establishment of the D15 Taskforce to support forward planning for special education provision in the area, and similar initiatives in other areas;

— the commitment in the Programme for Government to introduce a common application system;

— the recent publication of a circular letter by the Department of Education setting out new guidelines for schools in relation to the review of special education placements and the removal of the need for parents to seek updated professional reports where a student is transitioning from a primary special class to a post-primary special class of the same designation;

— the intention to introduce a National Therapy Service (NTS) in education to be delivered by the NCSE, the NTS will commence in special schools and subsequently extend to schools with special classes and mainstream provision, and it is intended that the service will be rolled out on a phased basis in some special schools at a later stage in the 2025/2026 school year, with a wider roll-out for the 2026/2027 school year;

— the establishment of the Educational Therapy Support Service in the NCSE, Regional therapy supports which includes Teacher Professional Learning, and follow up in school support will be available nationally from September 2026;

— sustained in-school support delivered by Speech and Language Therapists and Occupational Therapists, based on the therapy element of the School Inclusion Model is currently being delivered to 22 schools in the Eastern Region, further schools will have access to this support in the Western Region in September 2025;

— the introduction of an integrated model of enhanced in-school therapy supports pilot, in conjunction with the Health Service Executive, this pilot ensures the educational, health and social needs of children and young people are met through the reinstatement of therapy services onsite in special schools;

— the funding provided for the training and upskilling of teachers and SNAs who support children with special education needs;

— the request by the Minister for Education to the Teaching Council to include a mandatory assessed placement period in a special class or a special school setting in all initial teaching education programmes;

— the extensive review by the Department of Education of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 will be published in the coming weeks;

— the establishment of a new SNA Workforce Development Unit by the Department of Education which is engaging with SNAs, schools, unions and stakeholders, which recognises the essential role played by SNAs in our school and which is underpinned by a new national training programme for SNAs costing €1.9 million recently announced in conjunction with Atlantic Technological University;

— the work underway on a redeployment scheme for SNAs which for the first time, will allow SNAs in posts which may no longer be required for reasons such as falling enrolments, reduced care needs or changing demographics, to be redeployed to a school which has a vacant post;

— the provision of circa €264 million in 2024, to support over 21,700 children with SEN access school transport to attend school each day which is a 68 per cent increase since 2021;

— the significant level of funding and supports being provided to schools to deliver accommodation for special classes, including school building projects, the repurposing of available rooms, and the provision of modular accommodation;

— the review of the assistive technology scheme to ensure all children who need technology to access the curriculum receive it through a streamlined process which is underpinned by funding of €5 million, an increase of €2 million since 2020;

— the introduction of the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot 2023-2025 to support children's wellbeing and mental health in primary schools and the recent introduction of the new national programme (Neart) of mental health and wellbeing resources and training for post-primary schools that is delivered by Jigsaw in collaboration with the National Educational Psychological Service;

— the Department of Education has commenced a review of the Leave of Absence following Assault scheme, and is also finalising the terms and conditions of a new Occupational Injury Scheme for teachers;

— the range of resources that has been or will soon be made available to schools to enable them to support students' behaviour, including the publications by NCSE Relate Behaviour framework, Tusla Developing a Code of Behaviour: Guidelines for Schools and the Department of Education Understanding Behaviours of Concern and Responding to Crisis Situations Guidelines;

— the extensive programme of training in place, or planned, to support schools in managing student behaviour;

— the restoration of posts of responsibility in schools and the availability of additional hours from September 2025 to assist schools in coordinating their special education teaching provision; and

— the renewed focus of the Government on the area of disability services with a particular focus on improving the delivery of services for children with disabilities; and calls on the Government to: — take any necessary steps to ensure that every child with SEN who needs an appropriate school place has access to one in a timely manner;

— progress work on the development of a more inclusive education system for children with SENs by supporting them to attend their local school;

— continue to expand the number of special school places, special classes and special education teaching hours as required across the State;

— improve communication and outreach to parents of children with SEN to streamline the process by which parents apply for specialist school places, reducing the burden on them and improving the timelines, including the introduction of a common application procedure;

— continue to increase investment into the area of special education to ensure that every child can reach their full potential;

— support additional schools and students to benefit from the Summer Programme; and

— ensure that the NCSE will continue to engage intensively with parents and all educational partners to continue to increase capacity.".

I thank my Labour Party colleagues for tabling this motion. I welcome and acknowledge the many parents in the Gallery, many of whom I have met in the past while.

It is a priority for me, the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and the wider Government to ensure that children with special educational needs not only get access to the school places they are entitled to, but also get access to supports in the place that is most appropriate to them. We all agree on that. I have met many parents and children, not just as Minister for Education, but over the past number of years. I acknowledge them and that all they want is to ensure that every child has access to that place and support. That is why we are here.

We have tabled an amendment in order to reference the work that has been done. Let me be clear, however, that there is nothing in the Labour Party motion that we do not agree with or support. We will work with the party. As a Government and a Dáil, we will work collectively because we have the same goal.

There has been significant investment in special education over the past number of years. It is important to say that because we have 250,000 children who are supported firstly in our mainstream schools. Approximately 97% of children who go to school are in mainstream schools. Some 250,000 of those have special educational or additional needs of different variations. Many of them are supported in our mainstream schools. Approximately 28,000 children are supported in a special class or a special school. From the parents, teachers and students I meet, the most important thing to do is to ensure that we find a place that is appropriate to each child, as what is appropriate to one child might not be to another. It is about ensuring that children have access to the place that is most appropriate to them and that they have supports in place that are most appropriate to their needs.

As many of these parents and children were, I was happy to attend the teacher and SNA union conferences last week for the first time. The issue of special education and improving teaching and learning supports for children with special education needs was a key focus and, understandably, key priority for everybody at those conferences. I wish to touch on a number of issues that arose last week but also on many of the issues raised in the motion. I will outline for the House the work that is underway on these issues and the progress that is being made. The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, will touch on the remainder of those issues.

As regards ensuring that we have the places, classrooms and spaces available for every child, the Labour Party motion rightly recognises that the NCSE has confirmed that 399 of the 400 special classes that we had committed to are being provided for in the coming year. These have been sanctioned. This has happened earlier than in 2024. Obviously, we want to do things even earlier this time next year. This means that there will be 3,900 new places available for children. I am not throwing out figures for the sake of it. These are 3,900 places that children will be able to avail of. It is important that they were sanctioned. Of most importance is that these classrooms open and that the admissions process continues as quickly as possible.

The Minister of State and I have been meeting with the NCSE and departmental officials weekly. In fact, we met just last night and will meet again next week. While I am happy that the new special classes have been sanctioned, it is imperative that these classes be established quickly and that those schools that have not done so yet - many have - begin to open admissions to students seeking special class places. I have requested my Department to write to all of the 399 schools asking them to progress the admission of students as quickly as possible. We have also asked the NCSE to support them in establishing these new classes to ensure that enrolments can happen as quickly as possible, and to provide those places to the children who are known to the NCSE and not those who are not. Of course, we need to ensure that every child who has an identified need can be supported. It is important that this work progresses quickly so that parents have confirmation of where their children will be enrolled and they can begin planning and preparing for this transition.

The necessary funding is in place to support schools in establishing these classes, for the provision of the accommodation which is also required, for the repurposing of existing accommodation, and for training teachers and SNAs as regards these new special classes.

It is a priority for me to ensure that, come this September, every child has access to that place. While special classes have been confirmed earlier this year, I know from talking to families that that is not good enough. I want it to be the situation that, come January when children learn where they are going to primary or post-primary school in September, it means every child and not just some children. That is why the Minister of State and I have insisted that the NCSE identify what provision is required for next year and the 2026-27 school year even earlier so that we can identify where that need is, engage with parents and then engage further with schools where more places need to be made available. My Department and the NCSE met school management bodies and patron bodies before Easter in a first step for forward planning of next year.

Regarding the five new special schools opening in the coming school year, all of the schools are progressing the recruitment of staff. Two schools are completing their admissions procedures and the other schools will be commencing their admissions processes quickly. Capacity has been expanded in a number of other special schools for the coming school year to ensure that we can provide placements for children in the places that are appropriate to them and in their local communities.

In addition to the 399 special classes sanctioned, it is intended that steps will be taken to compel one school to open a special class under section 37A. None of us wanted to do this but this school has available accommodation and, despite significant engagement over a considerable period of time, the school has not agreed to open a special class to date. The Minister of State and I are fully committed to ensuring that the 400 new special classes are in place for the upcoming school year but, above all, that everybody plays their part here. There should not be a choice. If there is a need and a demand in an area, then a school needs to work with us. We will work very closely with it in that regard.

On the common admissions process, we are making progress on the delivery of a common application system for admissions to schools as set out in the programme for Government, particularly for children with special educational needs. As Deputies, we are all too familiar with the stress parents face come school time in applying to many schools and, unfortunately, receiving many negative letters back. We want to remove that stress and I believe that a common application system can be a game-changer in this regard. It must and will change.

We will receive the report of the D15 task force on special education before the summer. As part of that, there was a trial process involving 13 schools at the outset that had a common application system. I understand that will expand even further come this September. My Department, the NCSE and the D15 task force are working closely to that. We hope that it will not just apply to special schools, but also to the mainstream where there are also special classrooms.

Much work has been done to ensure that children with special complex educational needs have a special school place and we accept that we need to do more work. We also need to ensure that the teaching, learning and supports in these schools are of a high quality.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank our teachers, special education teachers, SNAs and every part of the school community because each person plays a part. I saw that last week at the various conferences and in meeting with our teachers, principals, our secretaries, caretakers, SNAs and special education teachers.

Everybody plays that important role.

We also understand the importance of therapy services for our children and young people with additional needs and there have been significant developments in this area in recent weeks. A new provision in schools this year is the educational therapy support service. This is about building capacity for teachers and our school staff to provide as effectively as possible for the needs of students. This service will see therapists working in classrooms with teachers. Building on this, the programme for Government clearly commits to a new therapy service where the therapist will provide direct supports to our children. I confirm that work is under way to establish what is a necessary support for our schools. We will be working to advance this as quickly as possible. I brought a memo to Cabinet only three weeks ago, setting out that my Department, working with children and the HSE, is now designing a new therapy service. We are working to make sure this can be introduced later on in this school year, starting with our special schools but making sure we move beyond special schools into our special classrooms and, of course, mainstream. We know the benefits of this. If children are accessing therapies, it provides them with a greater level of support in schools so they can work with their teachers and their teachers can work with them in a setting that is much more conducive to learning. It is about providing the supports in the place that is appropriate to them. Not only will this benefit children because they will get the direct therapies, but there will also be a level of support provided for teachers for the other children in the classroom. Parents will also be brought in. We will make sure this is a whole-of-school response and environment. It is very important and we are prioritising this so it can be introduced as quickly as possible.

It is important that we have the buildings in place, of course. Some €5.7 billion has been invested in schools throughout the country, involving the completion of more than 1,150 school building projects. These have included the provision of new and modern accommodation for approximately 7,500 children with special educational needs right across the country. This has allowed the number of special classes and special schools to grow. We are committed to making sure that where the need is growing, the demand is in place, and those provisions and buildings expand and be provided for as well.

I will touch on another issue for a few moments. It is important that we put in place training for our teachers. We heard this very clearly last week at our conferences. The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and I wrote to the Teaching Council to ensure that when teachers are being trained initially in universities and colleges, there is a clear focus on special education and mandatory placements but that there is also increased continuous training for teachers in our schools already, those who are now in our newly opened special education classrooms, to make sure they have the supports and resources they need.

We all have the same objective here. We all want to make sure that every single child has access to the school place they are entitled to and that they have the supports and provision in that place. I thank the Deputies. I look forward to working with colleagues.

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