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

I thank the Senator for raising this extremely important issue. I have noted the contents of his contribution.

The current model of allocation was commenced in 2017 on foot of a 2014 NCSE report. The model aimed to move away from a diagnosis-led system of allocation to an identified-need-driven system. This was to provide greater certainty to schools about the additional teaching allocation they would receive. A key attribute was that it provided schools with a greater level of autonomy in managing and deploying the additional teaching allocation to meet identified learning needs within the school.

The Department conducted a review of the model in 2022 to ensure that it was meeting the changing needs in special education. During the review process there was full consultation. The Department sought and listened to the views, concerns and issues raised by our education partners and schools with the existing model. The engagement with our key stakeholders, including staff representatives and management bodies, took place on a number of occasions in order to get feedback on the current model and to take on board the issues that needed to be considered for a revised model. All that feedback was brought into this current allocation.I wanted to set that out at the outset.

It is also important to say that overall there has been an increase in special education teaching posts throughout the country. We now have 14,600 such posts supporting mainstream classes, which is an increase of 1,000 since the end of the 2021 school year. We should also bear in mind that 98% of children, including those with special educational needs, are educated in mainstream classes. There has, however, been a limited change to the methods used to allocate special education teachers, SETs, to mainstream classes. The allocations to schools issued on 6 February arise from that review. Of all schools throughout the country, 67% have either increased their allocation or retained their previous allocation. Of those schools whose allocation has been decreased, and I appreciate what the Senator said about this particular school, 70% have reduced their hours by five hours or less, which is the situation for Granlahan National School, Ballinlough, County Roscommon.

The SET allocation is designed to distribute additional teaching resources across the entire education system as fairly as possible. The Department, along with stakeholders, is cognisant that the model needs to continue to evolve so that the SET allocations process takes into account new or improved data sources and other changes within the school system. This school has a significantly reduced level of students who have a standard ten, STen, score of 1, 2 or 3 in English and have special education needs in maths on a three-year average basis. These are the categories that get the highest level of support. There are no special classes in Granlahan National School. The Senator said enrolments have gone up slightly but they are relatively stable, although with a small increase. My understanding is this increase is not sufficient to counteract the significant reduction in teaching need as per the standardised test results.

The school can, however, engage with the NCSE to review this, and speak to the special educational needs organiser, SENO, to see if a conversation can be had around it. I would not like the message to be that there is a cut at the school. This is about fairness across the system in general and trying to match the greatest level of need with the number of teachers.