Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I am sure the Minister of State is aware of the Department's plan to redesignate special schools so they no longer cater for children and students with mild learning disabilities. This will apply to approximately 30 schools across the country. I understand, in part, the rationale behind it. The Minister wants an inclusive model of education where children with mild learning disabilities can go to a mainstream school, and that will free up places in special schools for children with more complex needs. However, as is often the case with policies, there are unintended consequences and when you look on the ground, you see the policy does not fit and is not the right policy.

I bring the Minister of State's attention to a school in Bray in my constituency, New Court special school. It is a fabulous school. When you walk into it, there is a feeling of love, happiness and support. It has around 80 children, some with complex needs, but previously it primarily focused on children with mild learning disabilities. It provides a loving but individualised care and education model for the children. The children really thrived in that environment. Unfortunately, with these plans those children with mild learning disabilities will no longer be able to go to New Court and will have to go to their local mainstream school. Many of these children were in mainstream schools, could not thrive there and therefore ended up in New Court.

Also, I just do not think the one-size-fits-all model will work. I am worried for these children who find it difficult to keep up with the pace of a mainstream class. If they are put in to a mainstream school, are trying to keep up with their peers and are unable to do it, the stress, anxiety and not feeling part of the school will make life very difficult for them. Maybe it would work for some children but we need to look at the children's needs and ensure that we find a school environment that suits them and that there is choice for them and their families.

I know there are many children with complex needs who cannot get school places. That is a scandal we have seen happen year after year. However, we need to ensure those children are accommodated and children with mild learning disabilities are also accommodated and get special education if they require it. Rather than displacing one set of children with disabilities with another set of children with disabilities, we need to provide spaces for all these children in the settings best suited to them. The schools in my area have 1,000 students in them. I cannot imagine how difficult it would be for a child with a mild learning difficulty to go in and settle and fit into that kind of environment. It would be incredibly difficult. New Court is a school in my area so I am raising it but my colleague, Deputy Jen Cummins, has been raising the wider policy issue. I hope there is an opportunity for some flexibility in the policy.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. Her description of the special school in Bray mirrors my experience of visiting special schools in Cork and elsewhere. I have seen the improvements in these children's education, ability to cope and mental health. What they are able to do is incredible, especially when they have access to additional therapies. That is another part of what we are trying to do. I take that point but my understanding is the intention of the redesignation is not to narrow the scope but to broaden it in terms of who can be catered for in the schools. I will explain more in this response.

The Government is committed to the provision of additional special school places for children with more complex educational needs. Over 300 new special school places are being provided for the 2025-26 school year. Five new special schools are being established in addition to the 11 new special schools opened over the last few years. Special school capacity is also being expanded across a number of special schools. Along with providing additional special school capacity, the Department of Education and Youth and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, consider that it is necessary to look at the profile of existing special schools. It is important to state that it is not the intention to exclude children who require a special school place from accessing certain special school settings, but instead to work to ensure children with complex educational needs can apply to their local special school.

There are situations currently arising where children with additional needs travel past special schools in their locality to attend a special school further away. This is not fair on the children or their families. It is down to the fact children cannot apply for admission to their local special school simply because they do not meet the narrow designation of that special school.

It is important to state that there is no strict timeline on redesignation being pursued. As indicated in Circular 0039/2025 published in recent weeks, the Department and the NCSE intend to commence work in this area in the coming school year. Any change to designation will proceed on a gradual phased basis and schools will be supported with training, supports and guidance by the NCSE. This is not a new departure. The NCSE reports that over half of these mild general learning disability special schools have since diversified, which means children with more complex needs can enrol in their local special school. A lot of work has been done by these schools to broaden their designation and the Department of Education and Youth will continue to support schools in this endeavour so that more special schools can better support children with complex needs in their local community. Of the 129 special schools nationwide, approximately 30 were originally designated as schools for children with mild general learning disabilities. One of these is in County Wicklow and has just over 100 students enrolled.

I take the Deputy's point. It is not a one-size-fits-all. We all know of cases of children with mild learning disabilities who, you would think, might be more appropriately educated in a mainstream school, but it just does not fit.

We have seen where they have excelled and done much better when they attend the special schools. I take that point. I do not think that is the intention of what is being done here. The intention is to cater for those children with more severe learning disabilities, stopping them from having to pass their local school and go further afield because their existing special school is at full capacity. That is the intention here. This is being rolled out on a phased basis and there is a lot of work to be done.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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My understanding is that children with mild learning disabilities will not be able to enrol in any special schools under this programme because they will not have the sign-off, approval or letter of eligibility from the NCSE. The plan is for all of those children to go to their local mainstream school. I absolutely agree that no child should have to travel for two hours to get to their special school or to get education. It is absolutely not acceptable. Every child should be able to be educated within the local community. We should increase the capacity of the special schools, rather than just moving children from a special school into a mainstream school and then putting other children into the special school. It is more of a displacement than an inclusion process. I do not know what level of conversation or consultation has been done with the mainstream schools. I imagine it would be very difficult mainstream schools to get the level of support needed to assist and help these children. These children will not be going into any of the autistic spectrum disorder, ASD, units or anything like that. They will be going straight into mainstream classes, but they will need supports. We have not seen in the policy or heard in any of the discussions how we are going to make sure those secondary schools have the actual supports they need. How are we going to make sure they have enough places? I am still dealing with children who do not have a school place for the coming September. Our educational welfare officer has disappeared and will not be back until September. There are children who still do not have a place in a mainstream school in the north Wicklow area for September. The mainstream schools in our area do not have capacity. I do not know where these children are going to go. Wherever they go, we need to make sure they have the supports they require. I ask the Minister of State to revise this and meet some of the schools.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the question and for giving me the opportunity to reassure the House that the Department of Education and Youth and the NCSE are committed to ensuring all children can access an education suitable to their needs. The Department of Education and Youth continues to engage intensely with the NCSE on forward planning for new special provision to ensure every child has a place in an educational setting best fitted for their educational need. It is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Where a special school is deemed more appropriate, the options are being kept open in that regard.

The establishment of mild general learning disability, MGLD, special schools predated the significant expansion in the range of supports offered in mainstream schools through additional special education, teaching and special needs assistant resources, and through the rapid expansion in special class provision. There are now over 28,000 children being supported in special schools and classes, with the number of special classes increasing by 103% since 2020. Examining the designation of special schools is not about limiting the options of any child; it is about creating options and ensuring that children with more complex needs are afforded the opportunity to attend their school with other local children. This means there will be a variety of different needs accommodated in the school, not just children with one particular need. In my previous response I made the pint that the NCSE reports that over half of these mild general learning disability special schools have since diversified. Diversification is the key word. It is about ensuring that these schools that previously only catered for children with mild general learning disabilities will now cater for more. That is key.

Deputy Whitmore mentioned the level of consultation. The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is in the office next to me. He has spent a lot of time and is dedicated to consulting with the special schools but consulting with parents as well, which is really important. That is something that has happened. I am very sure I can stand over that statement with a fair degree of confidence. I totally accept the points raised and I will relate what was said here back to the Minister of State.