Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

85. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to outline, in the context of special education preparedness for September 2025, the number of children with special educational needs but currently without an appropriate school place for September 2025, and the plans to address this; the way in which special needs assistant, SNA, posts will be allocated to these children and all children with special educational needs in September 2025; if all schools with new special classes due to open in September have had their SNA allocation confirmed, for example; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31563/25]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

With regard to special education preparedness for September 2025, how many children with special educational needs are currently without an appropriate school place for September 2025? What plans are there to address this? In what way will special needs assistant be allocated to these children and all children with special educational needs in September 2025? Have all schools with new special classes due to open in September had their SNA allocation confirmed, for example? I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Some 399 new special classes have been sanctioned so far for the 2025-26 school year. Of these, 287 are at primary level and 112 are at post-primary level, increasing the number of special classes by 103% since 2020. This means overall that there will be 3,700 special classes and 129 special schools in operation throughout the country. We will continue to build on that.

Just under 3,300 children and young people were identified to the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, under the new parents’ notification process by mid-February 2025 as needing a special educational placement for the upcoming school term. Close to 4,000 places are being made available nationwide between the new provision being provided, through the normal movement of students from primary to post-primary and students finishing post-primary.

The work now is focused on ensuring that these children enrol in these available places. The vast majority of schools opening new special classes have opened for admissions.

A small number have not but that is being addressed. The NCSE is engaging closely with the small number of schools to ensure they offer places as quickly as possible to the children seeking them. Schools were informed last week of their SNA allocations for this coming September, including for all new special classes. Special classes generally receive two SNAs per class. That is alongside their special education teacher and it is no different this year. Budget 2025 provided for 1,600 SNAs, the largest ever allocation in a single year, meaning there will be more than 23,100 in our schools in September, supporting our mainstream teachers as well as our special education teachers. It is the role of the NCSE to manage the allocations of SNAs across the country and to ensure that all of the additional SNAs provided for by this Government are allocated to support children with the highest level of need, so they get the highest level of support. It is important that we continue to meet this need across our education system. The programme for Government clearly commits to the recruitment of additional SNAs to provide greater support to students and schools. All SNAs and all new classes have been allocated and we want to build on that for next year.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I will drill down into those headline figures. They are figures which have been iterated for some time. My question was on the number of children with an identified recommendation that has been notified to the NCSE but who do not yet have an appropriate school place for September. Do we have that figure today? The Minister outlined that some schools have not yet opened up their offering and that is an issue in itself. Last year we were notified at the start of September that 126 children did not have a place. On Saturday there was a protest in Dublin and it was said 60 children did not have a place. There were an additional four children that Rachel Martin from FUSS Ireland and the equality in education campaign said did not have a place. My colleague, Deputy Daly, has identified five children in Murhur National School who do not have a sanctioned class or a place. Do we have that figure? If not, why not?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and I have been meeting with the NCSE to make sure we are on top of the figures and understand where we are. As of yesterday, more than 92% of children have been allocated places or are in the process of that happening. Outside of Dublin, where there are still places to be allocated, there are pathways for every child. For example, in our county of Meath, there are no places to be allocated for primary or post-primary schools and, in terms of special school allocations, there are two but there are pathways for those two. We have an outline of all the counties and where there are larger numbers, there are clear pathways. The challenge we still have - I do not think anybody has denied this - is with Dublin. We have been working with the NCSE, which is engaging with all the schools. I thank it and acknowledge that a huge number of schools are taking on extra classrooms. Our special schools are expanding and providing greater levels of support than ever before but the need is greater than ever before. There is a huge body of work happening, looking at the need and making sure we have the required spaces and that they match up. Nobody wants children travelling for hours on end every day to get to school. Where schools have been sanctioned and have not opened, they are being spoken to and engaged with regularly to make sure that happens. Every new classroom has been sanctioned since the end of April so there is no reason any school should not have opened its allocation process. We are working closely with schools. I appreciate it is not straightforward for some but it is important we get this done as early as possible. We do not want to be here in September not knowing where children are going.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Minister will be before the committee and I, as well as all those in opposition, would appreciate detailed, regular updates between now and September on the progress being made. Headline figures tell one story but I hope, as we accommodate more children, we can get the detail on that.

I make the point again on the children in Dublin and the four children in Sligo. I can send on details. There are five children in Murhur National School, Moyvane, County Kerry. There is potential there to accommodate children. There is physical space but a classroom is not sanctioned, although there is demand for it.

I will ask a follow-up question. We have long got responses referring to more than 22,000 SNAs employed, plus 1,600 sanctioned in budget 2025. Now the Minister tells us there are 23,100. That is 500 short. She said in every response we got - I am sure this will be reflected by others - that more than 22,000 SNAs are employed in the system and 1,600 extra SNA posts were sanctioned in budget 2025. In her response to this question, she said 23,100 would be allocated for next year. There is a shortfall of 500. Can the Minister explain that?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

On the children the Deputy mentioned, I will not be specific but that is why this process is important. If we do not know about a child and their needs, it is hard to identity and allocate support to them. For any child known to the NCSE in Kerry or anywhere, as far as I and the NCSE are concerned, there are places available and being provided. That is being worked through at the moment. The biggest challenge is in Dublin and we are trying to work through that.

The new system the Minister of State and I are putting in place will bring things forward. The NCSE has written to all schools and highlighted to parents that they should notify the NCSE by 1 October if their child will require a special education place or special education school for next year, so we can allocate those places by 31 December 2025. We are bringing everything forward by four months to make sure this time next year we are not still in this position talking about allocating children.

On SNA allocation, I will have to look at the figure in parliamentary questions the Deputy mentioned, but the figure I have is we will have 23,1000-plus towards the end of this year. That includes the 1,600 extra. It is a significant increase, 30% more than we had five years ago. Adding that to the SET teachers we have, it is 44,000 extra supports in classrooms for the 79,000 teachers we have. It is a huge increase but we want to and will do more.