Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join the Cathaoirleach in welcoming our guests. I thank the Senator for raising such an important issue. 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. It is important to remember that the vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. To support children with more complex needs, special classes in mainstream schools and special schools are provided.

This year, the Department of Education will spend in excess of €2.6 billion, or more than 27% of the Department’s budget, on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs. For the first time we will have more than 19,000 teachers working in the area of special education and more than 20,000 SNAs. We have almost 40,000 qualified and committed people in our schools who are focused wholly and exclusively on supporting children with special educational needs.

The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide. Over the past three years, the Department of Education and the NCSE have introduced a number of strategic initiatives to plan for and provide sufficient mainstream, special class and special school places. These initiatives are bearing fruit, with more than 600 new special classes sanctioned at primary level, almost 300 new special classes sanctioned at post-primary level and five new special schools established over the past three years.

The Department is engaging intensely with the NCSE on the forward planning of new special classes for the next school year, 2023-24. On 12 April, the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Madigan, announced the establishment of two new special schools as part of a comprehensive update on enhanced education provision for students with special educational needs. Along with the two new special schools, the Minister and Minister of State also confirmed that 218 new special classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE for opening in the coming school year.

The NCSE has now sanctioned further classes to bring the total number of new special classes to 305, with some further special classes to be sanctioned in the coming weeks. The 305 new classes are made up of 195 at primary and 110 at post-primary level. The vast majority of these new classes are to support children with autism. Of the 305 new special classes sanctioned by the NCSE for the 2023-24 school year, four are in County Waterford, with one at primary level and three at post-primary level. These new classes will bring the total number of special classes in the county to 56, with 36 at primary level and 20 at post-primary level. Specifically, there will be six special classes from September 2023 for the Tramore local school planning area, with four at primary level and two at post-primary level.

The NCSE has advised the Department that it is in negotiation with both schools referred to by the Senator on the opening of new special classes. The issue of available space for additional classes is under consideration. The purpose of the Department of Education’s additional school accommodation scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the school's existing accommodation. It is open to the school authority to make an application for additional accommodation through the additional school accommodation scheme, which is available at gov.ie. No such application has been received from either of the schools in question.

I again thank the Senator for raising this issue and for giving me the opportunity to reassure the House that the Department is committed to ensuring that all children can access an education suitable to their needs. I reassure the him that the Department of Education will continue to support the NCSE and schools through the provision of the necessary funding and capital investment to ensure all children are successful in accessing an education.