Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion, I thank the Senator for raising this very important matter. I stress that it is absolutely vital that every child and young person with special educational needs is fully supported in the education sector, whether this be in a mainstream or special class or special school. Significant investment and reforms have been made in order to ensure that this is the case.

The Senator outlined the case of St. Paul's Special School in Cork. A priority for this Government is to ensure that all children have an appropriate school placement and the necessary supports are provided to our schools to cater for the needs of children with special educational needs. This year, the Department will spend in excess of €2 billion, or more than 25% of the Department's budget, on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs. This will bring the total number of special education teachers in the mainstream school system to 14,385 in 2022, which is an increase of 48% since 2011 when 10,575 were funded. Additional teachers are also being provided to support students enrolled in new special classes and new special schools for the 2022-23 school year. Provision has been made for 19,169 special needs assistants, SNAs, by the end of 2022, which will represent an increase of 81% since 2011.

For 2023, the special education budget will be substantially increased by more than 10%, meaning that in 2023 the Department will spend more than €2.6 billion on special education. This will provide for an additional 370 special classes, an additional 686 special education teachers and 1,194 additional SNAs. Budget 2023 also provides funding for additional staffing in both the NCSE and the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS. Both of these measures will ensure that our schools and students benefit from additional practical supports from special educational needs organisers, SENOs, NCSE advisers and educational psychologists.

It is important to note that the NCSE has a process in place for reviewing the level of supports allocated to individual schools. Where schools consider they may require additional resources, they can engage directly with the NCSE to seek a review at any time. This review considers the particular needs of the children enrolled in the school.

We have set out the extent of the additional funding being made available to provide more special education teachers, SNAs, NCSE supports and NEPS supports in our schools. Special schools receive significant funding and have been resourced to reflect their particular needs. However, both the Minister and the Department accept there are a range of additional challenges facing our special schools. These schools cater for children and young people with the most complex special educational needs.

The Senator is aware that the home school community liaison scheme comes under the DEIS programme. While special schools are resourced to reflect their particular needs, the scheme has not traditionally been part of that model. However, the Department recognises the importance attached to establishing and fostering positive links between the home and school.

Again, while there are no current plans to extend the home school community liaison scheme to special schools, the Department is actively engaging with the representative body for boards of management in special schools to address some of these additional challenges. This involves considering how additional school management posts, such as a deputy administrative principal, are allocated to special schools to help alleviate the administrative burden on school leaders. Consideration is also being given to addressing significant additional funding challenges that arise for special schools. In addition, the need to support home school liaison between our special schools and parents is also under consideration. The Minister and Department of Education are committed to continuing the engagement to address these issues facing special schools.