Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach; he is looking good in the Chair. I also thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue.

Primary schools principals right throughout Ireland are screaming in an effort to retain their special education teacher, SET, allocations. The new criteria are flawed and are not working. I know this because schools throughout my constituency are having their SET allocations cut.

I want to give the Minister of State a few examples of what is happening out there. In Caheragh National School, the teachers and staff go above and beyond for their students. They had 22.5 hours of SET allocation and have been cut to 20 hours. It should be borne in mind that the school has already had to battle for a special needs assistant, SNA, allocation. Why is everything a battle when it comes to these schools getting the most basic services for the most vulnerable children in them? Their allocation has been cut because they are too good at what they do and because they have improved their literacy and numeracy profiles. They have done exactly what they set out to do, what was asked of them and what those pupils needed. They are essentially being punished for it with a reduction in SET hours.

Leap National School had 22 hours and 20 minutes of SET allocation. It has been cut to 17.5 hours. Again, this is a school that does not have DEIS status but provides such an essential service to children who, in some instances, are at an educational disadvantage.

Why is this happening? This country is supposed to be flush with money. Surely the last thing that should be done is cut hours for essential special education for those students who most need it. I come back to my essential point, which is that the criteria for SET are flawed. They are flawed because the allocation is based in the first instance on enrolment in the school, second, on the school's numeracy profile and, third, on the school's literacy profile. It completely ignores and does not take into account the complex needs of the school and the number of students with complex needs within the school. This is absolutely crazy and is why 730 principals nationwide have signed a petition to return the assessment of complex needs as an assessment when assessing SET allocations.

It absolutely has to happen and I will give a further example. There can be a school with 50 students with the same numeracy and literacy profile. Five miles over the road there can be another school with the same number of students, 50, with the same numeracy and literacy profile but one school might have two students with complex needs and the other might have five students with such needs, and they get the exact same SET allocation. That is not right; that does not make sense. Teachers, principals and other staff dedicate their lives and every hour to ensuring that their students get the best education they can but they are frustrated and they need help. No school at this point should experience a reduction in SET hours. We must remember that these are the most vulnerable children in our society and this is a particular issue throughout rural Ireland.

There can be one school with DEIS status, which receives all these allocations, services and extra support whereas another school in another village up the road, with a very similar profile will not get those supports. This absolutely needs to change and I making this plea to the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton. I am sure that this message will get passed on to her on this issue. We need to see a return of assessment of complex needs. It is absolutely ridiculous that any school has had its SET hours cut when it has improved its literacy and numeracy, and this needs to be reversed.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Naughton, Minister of State at the Department of Education. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which has been raised at different levels in every constituency. The Deputy has highlighted two schools in his constituency in west Cork and he made the point very clearly. I want to respond as best I can without having the specifics of the particular schools mentioned by him in the few minutes to hand.

There will be more special education teachers in our schools in September 2024 than ever before with an increase of 1,000 from when this Government was formed. This is in addition to a significant reduction in class sizes at primary level over the budgets, where the pupil-teacher ratio at primary level is now 23:1; it used to be substantially higher. This means children with special educational needs in our mainstream schools are better supported now to meet their needs because of this reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio.

In addition, the model will be run annually in line with general teacher allocations. This allows schools to better plan their staffing structures and gives them time to arrange clusters in areas where schools share a special education teacher. That is very relevant in rural areas and constituencies such as the Deputy's where schools can co-operate, work together and have advance information on that issue.

I would like to clarify that the SET model is an allocation model to provide schools with additional teaching hours to support the needs of their students. When the 2017 model was introduced, it replaced at that stage a diagnosis-led model with one based on need. Perhaps the Deputy is suggesting that we need to go back some way to that model. This has not changed for 2024 and it has been the same consistent approach over the past number of years.

There has been a limited change to the method used to calculate SETs for mainstream classes. The Department of Education commenced a review of the model in late 2022 to ensure it was meeting the changing needs in special education. This review involved extensive consultation and visits to schools by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, and took the strengths and shortcomings of the allocation model into account. This feedback has been incorporated into the revised model for the upcoming school year, 2024-25.

The allocation model for 2024-25 distributes the total available number of special education teaching posts in line with each school’s profile of need. The model makes an allocation based on the number of inputs, including enrolment numbers, as the Deputy said. It also uses school-level data from standardised tests to reflect the level of overall need and complex need within a school. Obviously, if there are positive developments within a school, and if greater literacy and numeracy has been achieved within the school, I can understand the point being made by the Deputy, which is that the school will not score highly within that needs model in subsequent years, having achieved that improved level. What the Deputy is actually saying in layman's English is that some schools are being penalised because of their success or at least that is my interpretation of what he is saying.

This model seeks to distribute the number of teaching resources in the fairest way. Schools have autonomy to decide how best to deploy those resources to meet the needs of their individual students. The Department acknowledges that every school is different and there is always a challenge when making allocations in respect of 4,000 schools at national level. For this reason, the Department, working with the NCSE, has streamlined the review process for special education teaching hours and schools that have any concerns can engage with the council on their allocation.

Reviews are being conducted between March and May to better enable schools to plan for the following September. The new streamlined review process was introduced for the forthcoming year's allocation. A school could request a review of their allocation and many have actually done that. A total of 218 review applications have been received and are being processed at the moment and the NCSE has committed that all schools will receive the outcome of the reviews by the end of this month. In cases where this is happening, schools will be able to plan for that particular matter.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. We are hearing that the number of special education teachers has increased and that the allocations are increasing but I am telling him that this is not the reality on the ground. The fundamental point is that schools are being punished for doing their job correctly and for improving numeracy and literacy. We need to go back to taking account of those complex needs.

In my last two minutes of speaking time, I want to raise two very related issues.

One relates to the spaces available in the secondary school in Bantry for children who need to go to an autism or special education class. What we are hearing on the ground is that those spaces are maxed out for 2024, 2025 and even 2026. Children are being sent to places like Skibbereen and Schull, a good 30- to 40-minute journey from Bantry. Will the Minister of State look into that, get some detail on the issue and see if a solution can be found?

On a second issue, the same schools that are facing challenges arising from cuts to special education teaching hours are also facing challenges arising from cuts to the ancillary grant. I appreciate that this does not relate to special education but the ancillary grant has been cut for many schools. That makes sense because secretaries are now included on the payroll but that ancillary grant is very important for caretakers and cleaners and to meet many of the basic costs of running a school. Schools are having to go to people with cap in hand and to raise money for these basic services. The ancillary grant has been cut by so much that these schools are now struggling to pay caretakers and cleaners to keep the school buildings clean and hygienic. I would really appreciate it if the Minister of State could take the message that this is an issue schools are facing back to the Minister for Education.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I will immediately convey what the Deputy has said about Bantry and the issue of the ancillary grant. Like the Deputy, many of the representatives here are hearing about that issue directly from schools in our own particular areas. I will make a few additional points. On the reviews, the model has set allocations for the forthcoming year such that 30% will have no change in their allocation, 37% will see an increase in their allocation and 23% of schools will see a reduction of five hours or less in their allocation. The reduction at the level of individual schools is being driven primarily by changes in demographics and reductions in enrolments, particularly in the primary sector.

On the broader issue, a phased high-level plan has been compiled to further enhance the model over the coming years. This will be based on a number of criteria. One is the development of a revised process for resourcing new schools as obviously there are new schools coming along. Another is a mechanism for the transfer of resources between the primary and post-primary levels based on changing demographics. We are heading into a significant issue at post-primary level. A third criterion is an examination of geographically isolated schools. That may be relevant to some schools in the Deputy's constituency. Another is an examination of the additional data potentially available in schools or other areas within the early years setting, which could support greater sensitivity in the model. That is essentially what the Deputy is asking for. One blanket rule does not always fit all schools. Greater sensitivity is needed on these issues.

As I have said, a number of appeals or reviews have been conducted so far. As a result, a number of schools had their profile re-examined, resulting in an average of 13 extra hours per school. The reviews that have been completed to date have resulted in an average of 13 extra hours per school. Schools will be notified of their allocation by the end of this month.