Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Sherlock for raising this important issue. We have just had a discussion on the same issue with Deputy Whitmore. I reiterate that the Government is fully committed to the provision of additional special places for children with special educational needs. In this academic year, we have surplus special education provision. It was provided based on the numbers notified through the parents notify process, and a number of these places still exist nationwide. Over 2,700 new special education places have been provided. Many of these are in special classes, meaning there are now 3,741 special classes in our education system.

We will further build our specialist provision next year by providing at least 3,000 new places, placing provision in locations where it is best placed to meet existing and future demand. The Deputy has outlined that in her own local area there is demand and there is no special school. This will be borne out in that plan because we are doing it to make sure that existing and future demand is catered for. In addition, special school capacity was also expanded across a number of special schools nationwide and 16 new special schools have been established in recent years.

The NCSE will soon have a clear picture of local demand for special classes and special school places for the 2026-27 academic year after they review and assess all the information, which is then provided through the parents notify process that closed on 1 October, as the Deputy pointed out. This new timeline was publicised widely and was communicated to schools, special education advocacy groups and parent representative bodies. Of course, it is not as if any parent missed this deadline; there was a delay in getting the information they needed to be able to provide that through the portal. The NCSE also undertook some work at local level to ensure that families were aware of the set of timelines and processes, a lot of which was outside of their control. As the Deputy will be aware, the earlier notification deadline was introduced this year to equip the NCSE at an earlier stage with local information on the numbers of students who would be leaving school, transitioning to post-primary specialist places, seeking specialist placements or entering education for the first time. This information is absolutely critical for forward planning and examining where provision needs to be best placed to meet demand. The earlier date in October coincides with when the schools begin enrolment processes and it affords parents the opportunity to enrol in existing classes. Many mainstream schools, particularly at post-primary level, start the admission process for the following year on 1 October. That is why the date was chosen.

The NCSE is working now on sanctioning as many new special classes as possible for the 2026-27 academic year by 31 December. This will be four months earlier than last year and it will bring clarity and certainty for parents and schools as to where classes will be located. It will also afford greater lead-in times for schools that might require repurposing or major building works to get work started and completed. It will allow schools to recruit staff and undertake the training needed so that children are fully supported in those placements. Once the NCSE has fully collated and assessed the information they receive from the parents notify process, it will engage with schools across the country to open new special classes.

The NCSE will also have due regard to any vacant places in existing special classes in an area and any places that will become available through the normal movement of children leaving primary or post-primary education. They advise that the majority of children and young people coming through the parents notify process are already enrolled in school and are being supported by existing special education teachers and special needs assistants. I stress that the NCSE has committed that it will continue to support all children made known to them after that 1 October deadline.

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