Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Currie for raising the matter. It is vital that every child and young person with special educational needs be fully supported in the education sector, whether in mainstream, a special class or a special school. Significant investment and reforms have been made to ensure this is the case. A priority for the Government is to ensure that all children have an appropriate school placement and that the necessary supports are provided to our schools to cater for the needs of children with special educational needs.

This year, the Department of Education will spend in excess of €2.6 billion, or 27% of its budget, on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs. In 2022, funding for an additional 980 teachers and 1,165 special needs assistants was provided. For 2023, the Department has further increased the number of teaching and SNA posts in our schools. There will be an additional 686 teachers and a further 1,194 SNAs in our schools next year. For the first time ever, therefore, 19,000 teachers will be working in the area of special education, alongside more than 20,000 special needs assistants. Together, almost 40,000 qualified and committed people in our schools will be focused wholly and exclusively on supporting children with special educational needs. Children will undoubtedly benefit, as is right and proper, from the additional focus these resources will bring to their education. The 686 new teacher posts will support children in both mainstream and specialist settings, including 205 new posts in mainstream schools and 480 posts for new special classes and in special schools. The 480 posts in specialist placements will facilitate the opening of 370 new special classes, catering for more than 2,000 children, and support an increase of 250 new special school places in 42 special schools.

Budget 2023 also provided funding for additional staffing in both the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, and the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS. Both these measures will ensure our schools and students benefit from the additional practical support from special educational needs organisers, NCSE advisers and educational psychologists. The NCSE has a process in place for reviewing the level of supports allocated to individual schools such as scoil Danu, which the Senator mentioned. 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 specific needs of the children enrolled in the school. The NCSE has advised the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan’s, officials that they are working closely with the school in question to ensure it is resourced and supported to meet the needs of the children attending it. I assure the Senator the NCSE will continue to work with the school on any issues that may arise.

While the additional funding being made available to provide more special education teachers, SNAs and NCSE supports in our schools is significant, it is accepted that a range of additional challenges face our special schools. These schools support children and young people with the most complex special educational needs. As for additional supports, special schools receive significant funding and have been resourced to reflect their particular needs. The Department recognises the additional challenges that arise for them and is actively engaging with the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education, NABMSE, to address some of these issues. It facilitated a series of meetings with special schools in November and has focused on a number of issues special schools face. The Department is collating the feedback from these meetings and will work further with NABMSE on the priority areas to be progressed. It is committed to progressing these issues from both an administrative and a budgetary point of view.