Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. It is important to say that enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government and for me as the first ever Minister of State with responsibility special educational needs. As the Senator will know, this year, in excess of 20% of the total education budget, or €2 billion, will be invested in supporting children with special educational needs. As a result, the numbers of special education teachers, SNAs and special class and school places are at unprecedented levels. My Department aims to ensure, always, that there are sufficient school places available to meet the needs of all children throughout the State. I am using every level available to me to do that.

As the Senator will be aware, the departmental policy is that student's with special educational needs should be included where possible and appropriate in mainstream placements with additional supports provided.In circumstances where children require more specialised interventions, some of which the Senator outlined, special classes or places are provided. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is responsible for planning and co-ordinating provision at local and national levels and for advising my Department in that regard. It is open to any school to make an application to the NCSE for the establishment of specialised provision. Where sanctioned, a range of supports, including capital funding, are made available to the school. Every school that opens a special class gets support in terms of grants - start-up grants, furniture grants and IT grants. There is always an incentive for the school to open a special class.

Irish mainstream schools have a tradition of providing places that respond to the needs of families in their areas. This is evidenced by the growth in special classes in recent years. In 2011, there were 548 special classes. We are now at 1,836, 1,567 of which are autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes.

The Senator correctly pointed out that issues had arisen, particularly in recent years, with a shortage of suitable school places for students with special educational needs. This has primarily been driven by the significant increase in demand and the shortage of suitable school accommodation in which to open special classes and expand special school provision. Areas of Dublin such as those referenced by the Senator have featured in that regard. It is the issue of better planning at national and local levels that she spoke about that I have been endeavouring to tackle. It is my objective for special education places to come on stream to meet emerging demand in a timely manner. Aside from the section 37A process to which the Senator alluded, it goes without saying the active collaboration by school communities in this regard is pivotal. The NCSE engages on an ongoing basis and most special classes are set up outside the section 37A process.

A number of schools in the areas to which the Senator referred have agreed to open special classes. Some schools have genuine reasons for not being in a position to do so, be it capacity issues or extenuating circumstances. However, the majority that have been written to are in a position to open such classes.

We want to ensure no child with special educational needs will be without a place this September. From September, we will be opening 1,200 special class places throughout the country.