Dáil debates
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Special Educational Needs
2:50 am
Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
I thank the Deputies for raising this issue, and I fully accept and understand the genuineness with which it is raised. I fully accept the Deputies' bona fides in respect of this issue.
The Government is fully committed to supporting all children with additional needs to achieve their full potential. It is a core priority of the work of the Department of education that every child should receive a school place that meets their needs. There is a significant body of work being undertaken to ensure that this is the case. This includes the creation of more than 2,000 new special school classes in mainstream schools and 16 new special schools established since 2019. Both the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I meet with Department of education officials and the NCSE on a weekly basis to track the progress of the provision of special classes and special school placements.
An additional 399 new special education classes have been sanctioned for this school year. Of these, 287 are at primary level and 112 are at post-primary level. These will be added to the existing 3,335 special classes nationwide, increasing the number of special classes by 103% since 2020. In addition, I also directed a school in County Kildare to open two new special classes under section 37A of the Education Act 1998. In total, therefore, from the next academic year, there will be more than 3,700 special classes and 129 special schools in operation throughout the country.
In recent years, the NCSE has advised the Department that after it had sanctioned new special classes, some of the children being offered places in these new special classes were not known to the NCSE. This was having a significant impact on the NCSE's ability to forward plan for the provision of new special classes. To address this issue, the Department of education issued a circular to all schools in October 2024 advising that parents of children seeking special classes or special school places for the 2025-2026 school year would need to notify the NCSE by 1 February. Schools were also asked to ensure that parents of children with special educational needs in mainstream classes who may require a special class were aware of the need to register with the NCSE by 1 February. This circular letter was developed after consultation with school management bodies, special education advocacy groups and the National Parents Council. The NCSE has advised that just under 3,300 valid notifications were received by mid-February last via their new parent notification system. The priority for the NCSE and for the Department has been to ensure that these children and young people are prioritised for enrolment in special classes and in special schools.
Sixteen new special classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE in schools in the Dublin 15 local school planning area for the coming school year. These are part of the overall 98 new special classes being provided across schools in Dublin. This is the single largest provision of new special classes in both Dublin 15 and across Dublin. Two of these new special classes have been sanctioned in St. Mochta’s in Dublin 15. As the Deputies know, this is a large primary school serving the needs of the community in Clonsilla and the surrounding areas.
These are the first special classes to be established at this school and they have been warmly welcomed by all in the local community. I commend the school leadership, the board of management and the school patrons on working closely with the NCSE and my Department to provide these much-needed classes. Regarding the admission of children into the new special classes, the NCSE continues to work closely with the school to try to progress the matters. The Deputies here, as well as Deputy Emer Currie and the Minister, Deputy Chambers, have been highlighting the issue.
As highlighted by the Deputies, an issue has arisen where students already enrolled in mainstream classes in the school but who may require a special class place were brought to the attention of the NCSE after the 1 February timeline.
I can confirm that the Department and the NCSE are making arrangements to meet the school and the school patron bodies today on this matter. I will refer to other matters in my supplementary response.
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