Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I apologise to Deputy Murnane O'Connor. There seems to have been some confusion about her listing but she is next up. She wishes to discuss the number of children requiring special educational needs supports in integrated settings in mainstream primary and post-primary schools in County Carlow.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle. That is fine. My office has been flooded with communications from families, caregivers, teachers and principals. There are children going into mainstream schools this September who have never had an assessment. How can schools properly prepare for those children? A special education preschool in Carlow has shared discharge numbers for 2023 with me. Of 14, seven are waiting for a data assessment. Four are to go to mainstream schools who have never met a therapist. That is absolutely shocking. Some of these children have already lost out on an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, preschool placement because they have not had their assessment to date. They should be going to a special education school or a special class within the locality but, again, without an educational assessment, they will not get a placement at this stage.

It is all about resourcing as well, which I also have significant issues with. Children who go to mainstream schools that are not suitable for their needs end up battling to get allocated special education needs supports or a place in an appropriate setting later. Their needs will not be met. They just cannot be. I have been speaking to the HSE in community healthcare organisation, CHO, area 5. The reconfiguration of children's services to children's disability network teams, CDNTs, has been faced with significant recruitment and retention challenges. The approved whole-time equivalent staffing for CDNT 1 is 22 but, unfortunately, only half that number of clinical staff are on the team. The vacant posts are in physiotherapy, psychology, occupational therapy, and speech and language therapy. These are very important. As the Minister of State knows, timing and early intervention are crucial for any child. This is why I have to highlight this. We are actually in a crisis now. The current vacancies are having a significant impact on the CDNT's delivery of assessments, therapy and interventions in addition to the implementation of the process disability service model and providing training and support pathways to parents. That is another issue. The HSE has a national and international recruitment campaign for therapy staff. What is the status of the recruitment drive?

In the school settings, we are seeing the expertise of psychologists being sought more frequently. That is something parents have been speaking to me about recently. There is only one psychologist in the CDNT in Carlow. It is physically impossible for that psychologist to carry out all of these assessments. The National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, provides educational psychological support to all recognised primary and post-primary schools but I am aware that it does not maintain waiting lists and the focus is on empowering teachers to intervene effectively with pupils whose needs range from mild to severe. Schools are doing their best but, at the moment, NEPS is encouraging schools to use a continuous assessment and intervention process whereby each school takes responsibility for initial assessments, educational planning and intervention for pupils with learning, emotional or behavioural difficulties. Our teachers are wildly under-resourced and this approach is highly challenging. Teachers can consult a NEPS psychologist if they need to but, in reality, there is a waiting list and they cannot access this support when they need it.

When the children started school in September last year, one principal contacted me to tell me about a child in junior infants who could not get an assessment. The school actually offered to pay for a private assessment in the hope that the family could get the supports it needed because the child needed to be looked at. Surely this cannot be happening. I will come back in again.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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On behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, I thank Deputy Murnane O'Connor for raising this issue as it gives me an opportunity to outline the current position regarding special education provision. At the outset, I will stress that enabling students with additional needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is an ongoing priority for this Government. My colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion, will continue to work to ensure that all children have an appropriate school placement and that the necessary supports are provided to our schools to cater for the needs of children with special educational needs.

It is important to remember that the vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. These children are supported to attend mainstream classes through the provision of special education teachers, SETs, and special needs assistants, SNAs, to our schools.

To support children with more complex needs, special classes in mainstream schools and special schools are provided. This year, the Department of Education will spend in excess of €2.6 billion, or over 27% of the Department's budget, on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs.

For 2023, the Department of Education has further increased the number of special education teaching and SNA posts in our schools. There will be an additional 686 SETs and a further 1,194 SNAs in our schools by the end of this calendar year. For the first time ever, we will have over 19,000 teachers working in the area of special education and over 20,000 SNAs. Together, we have almost 40,000 qualified and committed people in our schools who are focused wholly and exclusively on supporting children with special educational needs. The children will undoubtedly benefit, as is right and proper, from the additional focus these resources will bring to their education.

Over the past three years, the Department of Education and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, have introduced a number of strategic initiatives to plan for and provide sufficient mainstream, special class and special school places. These initiatives are bearing fruit with over 600 new special classes sanctioned at primary level, almost 300 new special classes sanctioned at post-primary level and five new special schools established over the past three years.

Budget 2023 also provides funding for additional staffing in both the NCSE and NEPS. Both of these measures will ensure that our schools and students benefit from additional practical supports from special educational needs organisers, SENOs, NCSE advisers and educational psychologists.

The special education teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school's educational profile. This model has replaced the previous model of allocating resource teaching support and learning support to schools based on a diagnosis of disability.

There are over 4,500 special education teaching hours for mainstream classes allocated across schools in County Carlow - 3,175 hours at primary and 1,475 hours at post-primary. Additional teachers are provided also for special classes.

The special education teacher allocation allows schools to provide additional teaching support for all pupils who require such support in their schools and for schools to deploy resources based on each pupil's individual learning needs. The allocation gives greater flexibility to schools as to how they can deploy their resources to take account of the actual learning needs pupils have as opposed to being guided by a particular diagnosis of disability, and schools are guided as to how they should make such allocation decisions.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. I welcome his response and the expenditure of €2.6 billion or over 27% of the Department's budget on special education needs. I pay tribute to teachers who work in the area of special education and, of course, the special needs assistants numbering over 20,000 who do an excellent job. My concern, however, is the number of children who are not getting assessed and are waiting for assessment. This is a major issue for me. Last week, a lady come into my office who had to borrow €1,000 from her credit union to pay to have her child assessed. She cannot afford this and it is unacceptable.

I speak with the HSE about assessment. What I am told is there is funding available but recruitment and retention are the issue. We need to help people who are not in a position to afford assessments. Whether they have assessments done privately or not, we should help families and children.

While I welcome the Minister of State's response and I can see improvements in certain areas, there is a crisis when it comes to getting children assessed. I am concerned for the children and their families. I am also concerned that families are borrowing money to get their children assessed before they go to school. That is not acceptable and we need to address this matter urgently.

I ask that the Minister of State to raise this issue with the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and the Minister, Deputy Foley. We need to work with the HSE, in particular in CHO 4 in Carlow-Kilkenny. All agencies need to work together to find a solution. It is the children who are important. I cannot stress enough that early intervention is key to this.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I had intended to make the point that each school can take account of the learning needs of children, as evidenced by performance in schools but also supported where relevant by information is provided regarding the nature of a condition a pupil may have.

A process is available where schools can seek a review of their special education teaching allocation by the NCSE, including the utilisation of their allocations. Detailed information on the NCSE review process is published on the NCSE website.

The SNA scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs. Such support is provided to facilitate the attendance of those pupils at school and minimise disruption to class or teaching time for the pupils concerned, or their peers, with a view to developing their independent living skills. There are almost 100 SNAs allocated across primary and post-primary schools in County Carlow. Almost 239 SNA posts are allocated across schools in County Carlow. Almost 100 of these SNAs are allocated for mainstream classes with the remainder assigned to special classes.

SNAs are not allocated to individual children but to schools as a school-based resource. The deployment of SNAs within schools is a matter for the individual principal and board of management of the school. SNAs should be deployed by the school in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated.

I should also highlight that there are currently 45 special classes in County Carlow. Of these, 30 are at primary level and 15 are at post-primary level. Over the past three years, seven new special classes at primary and two new special classes at post-primary level have been provided to Carlow.

I thank the Deputy for raising the important issues she has articulated. I will convey her concerns to both the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and the Minister.