Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy. Her description of the special school in Bray mirrors my experience of visiting special schools in Cork and elsewhere. I have seen the improvements in these children's education, ability to cope and mental health. What they are able to do is incredible, especially when they have access to additional therapies. That is another part of what we are trying to do. I take that point but my understanding is the intention of the redesignation is not to narrow the scope but to broaden it in terms of who can be catered for in the schools. I will explain more in this response.

The Government is committed to the provision of additional special school places for children with more complex educational needs. Over 300 new special school places are being provided for the 2025-26 school year. Five new special schools are being established in addition to the 11 new special schools opened over the last few years. Special school capacity is also being expanded across a number of special schools. Along with providing additional special school capacity, the Department of Education and Youth and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, consider that it is necessary to look at the profile of existing special schools. It is important to state that it is not the intention to exclude children who require a special school place from accessing certain special school settings, but instead to work to ensure children with complex educational needs can apply to their local special school.

There are situations currently arising where children with additional needs travel past special schools in their locality to attend a special school further away. This is not fair on the children or their families. It is down to the fact children cannot apply for admission to their local special school simply because they do not meet the narrow designation of that special school.

It is important to state that there is no strict timeline on redesignation being pursued. As indicated in Circular 0039/2025 published in recent weeks, the Department and the NCSE intend to commence work in this area in the coming school year. Any change to designation will proceed on a gradual phased basis and schools will be supported with training, supports and guidance by the NCSE. This is not a new departure. The NCSE reports that over half of these mild general learning disability special schools have since diversified, which means children with more complex needs can enrol in their local special school. A lot of work has been done by these schools to broaden their designation and the Department of Education and Youth will continue to support schools in this endeavour so that more special schools can better support children with complex needs in their local community. Of the 129 special schools nationwide, approximately 30 were originally designated as schools for children with mild general learning disabilities. One of these is in County Wicklow and has just over 100 students enrolled.

I take the Deputy's point. It is not a one-size-fits-all. We all know of cases of children with mild learning disabilities who, you would think, might be more appropriately educated in a mainstream school, but it just does not fit.

We have seen where they have excelled and done much better when they attend the special schools. I take that point. I do not think that is the intention of what is being done here. The intention is to cater for those children with more severe learning disabilities, stopping them from having to pass their local school and go further afield because their existing special school is at full capacity. That is the intention here. This is being rolled out on a phased basis and there is a lot of work to be done.

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