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

Gabhaim buíochas as an bhfáilte. Tá mé anseo in ionad an Aire, an Teachta Ní Fhoghlú. Tá sí ag binse an Rialtais faoi láthair.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir as an t-ábhar seo a ardú inniu. A priority for this Government is to ensure all children have an appropriate school placement and that the necessary supports are provided to schools to cater for the needs of children with special education needs. It is important to remember that the vast majority of children with special education 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 will spend in excess of €2.6 billion, or more than 27% of its budget, on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs. For 2023, the Department has further increased the number of teaching and special needs assistant, SNA, posts in our schools. There will be an extra 686 teachers and an extra 1,194 SNAs in our schools by the end of the year. For the first time ever, we will have more than 19,000 teachers working in the area of special education and more than 20,000 special needs assistants who will be 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. The Department of Education and the NCSE have introduced a number of strategic initiatives to plan for and provide sufficient mainstream special classes and special school places. The initiatives are bearing fruit, with almost 1,300 new special classes sanctioned over the past four years and seven new special schools established in recent years.

As the demand for new special classes at post-primary level will increase significantly over the next few years, the Department and the NCSE have engaged with post-primary stakeholders regarding the provision of special classes. In October, the Department wrote to all post-primary schools, including all of those in Monaghan town, to advise them of the need to begin planning to provide additional special classes. It is envisaged that all post-primary schools, including those in Monaghan town, will be required to provide special classes over the next three to five years, with an approximate average of four special classes in each school. As a result of forward planning, two special schools for 2023-24 have been announced, with further capacity being expanded in 11 other special schools. Along with the two new special schools, 389 new special classes - 252 at primary and 137 at post-primary level - have been sanctioned by the NCSE for opening in the 2023-24 school year.

Senator Gallagher referred specifically to Monaghan, and I have information with me in respect of County Monaghan. In County Monaghan three new classes have been sanctioned for the new school year - two at primary level and one at post-primary level. This brings the total number of special classes in the county to 42, of which 28 are at primary level and 14 at post-primary level.

The NCSE has advised the Department that there are sufficient special class places to meet the needs of children known to it for this school year. As further children become known to the NCSE during the course of this school year, it will be available, as always, to support those families at local level to work to secure an appropriate placement for their child. The Department and the NCSE are already working closely in relation to the forward planning of further special classes for the coming school year and beyond.

I thank Senator Gallagher for his commitment to County Monaghan. Both the Department and the NCSE will continue to monitor and review the need for further new special classes and schools or the expansion of existing special schools over the coming months and years.