Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)
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4. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a school in Limerick County received confirmation from her Department that its special education needs hours provided will be cut by 2.5 hours, even though the criteria state that a developing school would not lose hours. [8972/25]

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)
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Why has a school in my constituency got confirmation from the Department of Education that the SEN hours provided will be cut by 2.5 hours even though the criteria state that a developing school would not lose hours? I am talking about Meenkilly National School in Abbeyfeale.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for the question. My clear understanding is that there is no proposed reduction in special education teaching, SET, hours for the school referred to by the Deputy for the 2025-26 school year. This school has seen a reduction of over 2% in enrolments since the 2024-25 school year and its SET allocation remains at 22.5 hours for the 2025-26 school year.

The special education teaching allocation model is a standardised allocation model that provides schools with additional teaching hours to support the teaching needs of students in mainstream classes. The allocation model uses a variety of statistical data to complete allocations. This includes enrolment data, educational needs profiles, which consist of literacy and numeracy data, and data on educational disadvantage. This data is sourced from within the education sector to ensure it is validated and accurate.

For the 2025-26 school year, close to 15,000 special education teachers have been allocated to schools. Almost 86% of schools will see either an increase in their allocation of hours or retain their previous allocation. For the schools where there has been a reduction, this is driven by demographic change in the area and a reduction of enrolments in the school. The vast majority of these schools will see a reduction of five hours or less. Where schools believe they need additional SET teaching resources, they can apply to the NCSE for a review and, if they are needed, these will be provided in advance of the next school year.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response but, on the criteria for this, enrolments make up 25%, pupils' standardised test scores in second, fourth and sixth class make up 68.5% and educational disadvantage is based on pupils' addresses. If you are within an urban area, you will not have any need because you have infrastructure in the area around you. Many rural schools have little infrastructure and students must travel long distances to school. Their numbers sometimes fluctuate because the population is lower and they do not have the proper infrastructure. Planning laws and other regulations made here stop the populations of these areas from increasing. I want to see a two-tier system that will protect rural schools and help them to grow while giving us the same criteria as regards education into the future.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I come from a very rural community myself and I see the fantastic work that is being done right across the education sector in both rural and urban areas. Practitioners at school level, teachers, SET teachers and special needs assistants, make an enormous contribution. The method of allocating SET hours is very carefully monitored and has been over many years, going back to the time of resource teachers. A model has been brought in that fairly and accurately reflects the needs within the school community. I reiterate that there is no proposed reduction in the SET hours for this school in the 2025-26 school year.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)
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This is about the SEN hours that are being provided. On the criteria, a letter from the Department came to the school. The Department says the school is losing 2.5 hours while the Minister of State is saying it is not. Surely to God there has been a mix-up in the paperwork somewhere. I will work with the Minister of State to rectify that. I will again go back to equal opportunity in education. Regulations from this House have stopped people from living in rural areas. If we are to rebuild communities, it is our schools that support local businesses, sports, families, recreation and mental health. They support everything. We have a letter from the Department that says one thing but the Minister of State is saying another. We can rectify this. I have no problem with that. What I am trying to say is that we need to make sure that rural schools are protected. If there must be a two-tier system to allow the same infrastructure to be put in so that we can support and grow our schools in the same way as urban schools, I will work with the Minister of State on that. However, in the interim, I need them to be protected and for there to be no reductions in hours.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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It is vitally important that all schools, including rural schools, are protected. Many smaller rural schools provide fantastic facilities. Where children who have additional needs go to rural schools, the school community is smaller. Those schools work extremely well. I take the point that these schools support everybody. As the population grows, it is important that rural schools and urban schools are all protected because they are all vital pieces of infrastructure. I would like to see the letter the Deputy has in this regard.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)
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I will forward it to the Minister of State.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I have no difficulty with that but our information clearly states that there is no reduction in SET hours for the 2025-26 school year.