Dáil debates
Wednesday, 16 July 2025
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Special Educational Needs
2:30 am
Catherine Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I raise an issue that goes right to the heart of how we care for and support some of the most vulnerable children in our education system. It is the proposed redesignation of schools that currently cater for children with mild general learning disabilities, MGLDs. Earlier this year, I had the privilege of visiting Scoil Eoin in Crumlin, Dublin, where I met the principal, Debbie O'Neill, and the vice principal, Richie Doran. I also met the children and can say without any hesitation that the work done in Scoil Eoin is exceptional. Children with mild general learning disability are thriving in Scoil Eoin. The environment is calm, structured and welcoming. It is not just a place of learning. It is a place where children feel safe, supported and celebrated for who they are. That is thanks to the dedication of the staff and the right educational setting being provided in Scoil Eoin. Parents choose Scoil Eoin for their children because they believe, rightly, that it is the place where their children will be best supported. That parental choice is essential. As the mother of a child with a severe learning disability, I understand how important it is to find the right environment for a child to thrive and how devastating it is when those options are taken away. Yet Scoil Eoin is under enormous pressure to change its designation and to fold its supports into mainstream settings. This is not a neutral or technical change. This is a deeply consequential shift that risks dismantling the very structures that allow these children to succeed.
There are now only 14 classes catering for children with mild general learning disability at post-primary level in the entire country. This is a staggering decline. It is not inclusion. It is exclusion through attrition. Let us be clear that these children, who may struggle in mainstream settings without the right supports, are more likely to become disengaged, drop out, suffer from poor mental health or even fall into the criminal justice system. This is not a risk we should be taking lightly. In contrast, students in schools like Scoil Eoin follow a level 2 learning programme, with many progressing to level 4 qualifications and going on to further education or employment. This is real and meaningful inclusion rooted in appropriate and specialist school settings.
There is no justification for forcing these schools to change their designation. If the motivation is financial and it is cheaper to repurpose a school than build a new one, then we need to be honest about that. We must also be honest about what it will cost children and their families. Inclusion should not mean forcing every child into mainstream settings, regardless of whether it suits him or her. Inclusion means meeting each child where he or she is and giving that child the best chance to thrive. That requires a range of options, not fewer options.
The Deputy is obviously a fine Minister of State, but I am disappointed that the line Minister is not here. I would have liked to have asked her if she would pause any plans to redesignate these schools and if she would commit to protecting and expanding the provision of schools and classes for children with mild general learning disability. Will she respect the voices of parents and teachers who are telling us clearly that the model is working and must be preserved?
Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for her emotional presentation. I know she is acutely aware of the requirements that should be in place. She has the experience of a school that is doing the job really well. As she asked, why fix something that is not broken? Her experience of this school has obviously been a positive one.
The Government is committed to the provision of additional special school places for children with more complex educational needs. More than 300 new special school places have been and will be provided for in the coming 2025-2026 school year. Five new special schools are being established in addition to the 11 new special schools that opened over the past few years. Special school capacity has also been expanded across a number of existing special schools. It is important to note that it is not the intention to exclude children who require a special school place from accessing certain special school settings, but rather to allow children with complex additional educational needs apply for their local special schools. Currently, there are instances of children with complex needs not being able to apply for admission to their local special schools simply because they do not meet the narrow designation of those schools.
In this regard, and along with providing additional special school capacity, the Department and the NCSE consider that it is necessary to look at the profile of our existing special schools. This is not a new departure. The NCSE reports that more than half of mild general learning disability special schools have diversified to allow children with more complex needs in their communities who require a special school setting to enrol in their local special schools. Many schools have worked with us to broaden their designations and this Department will continue to support schools in this endeavour so that more special schools can better support children with complex needs in their local communities.
It is noted that many of the children enrolled in MGLD special schools do so around the transition point from primary to post-primary school.
Historically, these children and young people may not have had a local post-primary special class available to them. Through the accelerated provision of new special classes in recent years some of these children and young people should now have the option of attending a local post-primary school with a special class. The new senior cycle level 1 and level 2 programmes offers a new curriculum pathway for students with additional and special educational needs at post-primary level also.
The Department has asked post-primary schools to prepare and plan to provide at least four special classes each. The Deputy alluded to that in her opening statement - the decreased number of classes in secondary schools. I take on board everything the Deputy said today. I will relay her concern for this school and that it should not be, in any way, interfered with because the model works.
2:40 am
Catherine Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I do not take comfort in the response that the Minister of State has read out. Expanding the designation will break schools, such as Scoil Eoin, that are not currently broken. They are not failing; they are succeeding. That success is rooted in the fact that these are specialist environments led by professionals who have committed their lives to special education. I saw it myself. I met the staff and the children. There are real stories and real lives, and there is real progress being made in schools such as Scoil Eoin.
Inclusion must not be used as a cover for rationalisation or as a reason to take something away from children who need it most. I urge the Minister of State to respect parental choice, to listen to the voices of educators, such as Ms O'Neill and Mr. Doran, and to halt any plans that would dismantle the essential part of the education system.
We need more settings like Scoil Eoin, not fewer. This is not about moving resources around. This is about building a system that truly supports all our children, including children with acute learning disabilities and those with moderate learning disabilities. Let us not allow these children to become invisible. Let us protect spaces, such as Scoil Eoin, because we know they are thriving.
Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Ardagh has made the case well for Scoil Eoin. It is important that we, as public representatives, who have the opportunity to listen to the real-life stories of parents and teachers, such as in Scoil Eoin relay that to Department officials as well as the Deputy's sense that to make any change will dismantle something that works, that is good and that is providing the care and the educational atmosphere needed for these children to thrive, to be welcomed and, as she said, to be included. We all have a responsibility and the Deputy is taking that responsibility seriously. I will relay that to the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and ask that further negotiations, or at least further talks, be held with Scoil Eoin and that the experience of the teachers and the parents is number one in terms of any changes that may be pre-empted.