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

I thank Senator Ahearn for raising this matter. My role as Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion is to make sure we have sufficient special school places and, specifically pertinent to the Senator's question, to have special classes throughout the country and sufficient places for children with additional needs. There is no point having these classrooms unless they are properly kitted out and properly resourced and funded. That also applies to ancillary special education rooms such as occupational therapy rooms which the Senator mentioned. I am open to looking at a scheme to upgrade occupational therapy rooms. The Department tries to fast-track applications from schools that relate to trying to reconfigure existing accommodation.A minor works grant is available. It is €5,500, plus €18 per mainstream student and €74 per student per special class. That might be of assistance.

Once the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, sanctions a class, a school can apply to the Department for capital funding to reconfigure its existing spaces. The Senator will also be aware of the additional accommodation scheme to construct additional accommodation where it is needed. Interim accommodation can also be provided if no space is available pending the delivery of a new building. The Department works closely with schools, as I said, to fast-track any applications in this regard, although this involves a workload for staff. The Department funds external stakeholders engaged in the devolved delivery of building projects for individual schools. I am sure the same also applies in respect of rooms.

Senator Ahearn also mentioned equipment. His question was not specifically on this topic but it is important that he is aware of the grants available for special classes. There is a start-up grant of €6,500, an ICT grant of €6,700, a grant for a sensory room of €7,000 and a furniture grant of €2,500. Additionally, if special equipment is recommended by an occupational therapist, such as specialist chairs, tables, desks, changing benches or tables, hoists, etc., the NCSE and the Department can sanction grants for all those items.

Our school building programme has many different projects under way. Overall, some 1,300 school building projects are at various stages of design and planning and we are ramping up our efforts to provide additional places for children with special educational needs. When there are rooms, as I said, it is important that they can be reconfigured, reconstructed or re-equipped if necessary for the purposes that may be required in this context, particularly for the work of occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. If we are to move towards the school inclusion model in the future, we will need more capacity for occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and other therapists to provide their services to these children who require them so badly. Therefore, what the Senator is saying has merit and I am certainly open to exploring a separate scheme, perhaps, for therapy rooms, as distinct from special educational classrooms. I thank the Senator for raising this issue.