Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue on which we are intensively working. We have a budget of more than €1.9 billion for special needs and a Department budget of €11 billion, which represents quite a substantial injection of money.We have 1,500 SNAs. We got an additional 950 this year. Special classes have increased from fewer than 500 to approximately 1,500 since 2011. There has been enormous progress. However, I agree with what Senator Lombard said. The piece of work we are doing at the moment is how we can do better at pre-planning and forward planning and how we can improve communication channels with parents. It is not right that parents have to go around to schools or be given a list. That is something I have brought up with the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, when I had a meeting with it last week. I will continue to meet with it on that. Timing is another issue in terms of when enrolment for special needs purposes happens. I am happy to keep the Senator up to date in that regard.

The NCSE has a statutory function to plan and co-ordinate the provision of education and support services to children with special educational needs and consultation with the relevant education partners and the Health Service Executive. This includes the establishment of special classes and special school placements in various geographical areas where there is an identified need. In deciding where to establish a special class in an area, the NCSE takes account of the current and projected demand and available school accommodation both current and planned. The council ensures that schools in an area can between them cater for all children who have been identified as needing special class placements. As I outlined, they have increased from 548 in 2011 to 1,459 this year. Provision in special schools has increased from 6,848 placements in 2011 to 7,872 this year. When the NCSE sanctions a special class in a school, the school can apply to the Department for capital funding to reconfigure existing spaces or to construct additional accommodation. Similarly, special schools can apply to the Department for capital funding to accommodate additional placements.

Notwithstanding the extent of the investment, issues remain. In some parts of the country increases in population and other issues have led to shortages in capacity in the school system. I assure Senator Lombard that this issue is being taken very seriously. The NCSE formally advised the Minister for Education and Skills that there is insufficient special school and special class capacity in Dublin 15 and in Kildare. The formal notification was sent to me in recent weeks. The letter is a formal activation of a process under the admissions legislation under which ultimately a ministerial direction can be made requiring a school to make additional special education provision available. The NCSE and the Department are actively engaging with education service providers in order to encourage them to address the shortage of places. I am encouraged that, to date, those efforts have resolved the issue in Kildare and resulted in progress in Dublin 15.

Engagement with schools, patron bodies, parents and others is continuing in Dublin 15 to bring the required additional special class and special school placements on-stream. The NCSE will keep in regular contact with the parents of the children concerned to advise them of progress and to identify placements as they become available. The NCSE and officials from the Department of Education and Skills hosted a briefing session for Oireachtas Members in Leinster House on Tuesday last to advise Members on the approach being taken.

I again thank Senator Lombard because we have embarked on a very ambitious journey for special education inclusion and ensuring that special education is at the heart of the education system, but like any journey it is an ongoing and evolving one and I am happy to work with him along the way.