Results 6,341-6,360 of 6,598 for speaker:Michael Moynihan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is, in the first instance, the primary body responsible for the matter the Deputy has raised. I have forwarded this issue to them for their attention and direct reply. Deputies are also welcome to raise such queries with the NCSE directly through their dedicated Oireachtas query line at oireachtasqueries@ncse.ie. This year the NCSE...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The report of the Special Education Review Committee was published in November 1993, its purpose as set out in the terms of reference, was to review and make recommendations on the educational provision for children with special educational needs. While much of the language of the report is outdated, its contents has helped shape the landscape of our special education system over the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is, in the first instance, the primary body responsible for the matter the Deputy has raised. Deputies are also welcome to raise such queries with the NCSE directly through their dedicated Oireachtas query line at oireachtasqueries@ncse.ie. Parents seeking special class placements for their children are advised to contact the NCSE locally...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs, including the allocation of special needs assistants (SNAs). As the NCSE is responsible for the allocation of SNAs to schools, I have forwarded the school's details to them for their attention and direct reply. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1111 and 1112 together. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the national agency with responsibility for the provision of special education places. This year the NCSE has sanctioned 407 new special classes for the coming school year bringing to 3,742 the number of special classes in our schools. There are new classes in every county in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: In relation to the 2025/2026 school year, just under 163,000 mainstream applications are being considered for school transport. Of these applications circa 44,000 are new applications and roll over applications from the previous year. This includes eligible and non-eligible mainstream students. Please note this information is at a point in time and subject to continuous change as data is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is, in the first instance, the primary body responsible for the matter the Deputy has raised. Deputies are also welcome to raise such queries with the NCSE directly through their dedicated Oireachtas query line atoireachtasqueries@ncse.ie. Schools have been notified of their allocations of special education teaching (SET) posts and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1117 and 1118 together. The department provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools and students with special educational needs in order to ensure that wherever a child is enrolled, they will have access to an appropriate education. This includes special classes and special schools designated for children with mild, moderate, and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1119 and 1120 together. 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 coming 2025/2026 school year. Five new special schools are being established in addition to the eleven new special schools opened over the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The Department provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools and students with special educational needs in order to ensure that wherever a child is enrolled, they will have access to an appropriate education. This includes special classes and special schools designated for children with mild, moderate, and severe or profound learning disabilities. In order to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. The retirement age for school bus drivers has been set by Bus Éireann at 70 years of age, which also applies to all Bus Éireann road passenger services. The policy and criteria also apply to drivers nominated by private operators who operate...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. Bus Éireann is currently assessing all applications and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1157 and 1158 together. 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 coming 2025/26 school year. Five new special schools are being established in addition to the eleven new special schools opened over the last...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. Through the accelerated provision of additional special class and special school places over recent years, there are now just over 28,000 students enrolled in special classes and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. Bus Éireann has advised that the pupil referred to by the Deputy is attending their nearest Gaelcholáiste, however they are not eligible for school transport as they do not meet the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. Through the accelerated provision of additional special class and special school places over recent years, there are now just over 28,000 students enrolled in special classes...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The NCSE actively encourage expressions of interest from schools to open special classes, and I appreciate and commend the efforts taken by boards of management in expressing...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: As you are aware the vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special class and special school places are provided. During the planning process a number of schools may be approached to consider opening a special class in their locality. It is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. Under the terms of the Post Primary School Transport scheme, children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre as determined by the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs, including the allocation of special needs assistants (SNAs). The NCSE has advised my department that all schools have been informed of their SNA allocation for the 2025/26 school year. As the NCSE is responsible for the...