Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, is very welcome.

Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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I attended a meeting last week at a primary school in my constituency. Another meeting that is coming up soon will combine a number of primary and secondary schools. A number of issues were raised at the meeting last week and will be raised at the meeting next week. The first and main issue is the lack of suitable and appropriate school places for children with additional educational needs. That is especially the case for autistic children but applies to all children with additional educational needs. One parent at the meeting said that her son is in sixth class. He is autistic. She has been applying to schools and looking for a suitable secondary school placement for her son but has not as yet been informed whether a place will be available.

All of us with children take it for granted that when we apply to schools to allow our children to progress from primary to secondary school there will be sufficient places to accommodate need in the locality. Unfortunately, for children with additional needs that is not the case. More often than not when we come to September, there are many students without places for the start of the school year. There were approximately 120 students without a place this year. That number has reduced in recent months but there are still students who do not have a secondary school place at the moment and are being educated at home. That is not fair.

It comes down to a severe lack of planning. There needs to be much better co-operation and consultation between the NCSE and the Department of Education to ensure this does not happen in the future. One of the teachers at the meeting was a special education teacher. She was put into the position of teaching in an autistic class when she had absolutely no training in special education. Most teachers do not have that training because it is not included in their primary degree. All of the teachers who are asked to teach a special class do their utmost to upskill. The teacher I am speaking about upskilled in her own time and at her own expense to ensure she knew what she was doing. That is not fair. We need continuous professional development for all teaching staff. We also need specified degrees in special education to be rolled out in this country to ensure that our staff are trained to educate children who have additional needs. That is a wide and varied cohort and every child has different needs.

One thing that teacher pointed out was that prior to the setting up of the children's disability network teams, CDNTs, members of the children's development teams used to call to the school. They were occupational therapists, OTs, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists. They would advise her and the special needs assistants, SNAs, in the school on practices they could and should use with the children. They would devise plans around the child's specific needs. That has not happened since the establishment of the CDNTs. What makes it worse is that the community supports that did exist for children prior to 2021 no longer exist in any shape or form. All of the parents at that meeting were able to say that their children had not seen an OT, a speech and language therapist or a physiotherapist since 2019, when the child's development teams were disbanded, along with the early intervention teams, in favour of the CDNTs. That structure is not working and needs to be replaced. I have for some time been advocating through committees and in the Dáil for in-school therapy for children.They should be in special schools but they should also be in mainstream schools where there are special classes attached. There could be a cluster of schools which would access support from a number of professionals who would go into the school, meet the children, devise plans to help them with their needs and instruct both the teachers and the SNAs how best to help educate those children. The teacher pointed out that many of the children in their autistic class in the school are either pre-verbal or non-verbal. The biggest problem is the frustration that they cannot communicate what their needs are to the teachers, and that causes all sorts of problems, including self-harm and harming of other students and of staff. It needs to be addressed.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Tully for raising this important matter.

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. We know demand for new special classes at post-primary level is expected to increase significantly over the next few years, due to increasing demographics and increasing prevalence rates, and the Department and the NCSE have engaged with post-primary stakeholders regarding the provision of special classes.

In October 2022, the Department wrote to all post-primary schools, requesting that each school begin planning to provide for up to four special classes to meet the needs of children progressing from primary learning. Last October, the Department issued a circular to all schools, setting out new measures to support the forward-planning of special education provision. As a result of this forward planning, five new special schools will open for the 2025-26 school year, including one in County Monaghan. This is the first special school in County Monaghan, which up to now was serviced by the special school in Cootehill, County Cavan. This should ease the pressure in terms of application to the special school in County Cavan.

Capacity has also been expanded in a number of other special schools around the country. The NCSE has to date sanctioned 209 new special classes - 138 at primary and 71 at post-primary level - for opening in the coming school year 2025-26. Four of these new classes are in County Cavan - one at primary level and three at post-primary. These will be added to the existing 59 classes currently in operation, which comprise 46 at primary level and 13 at post-primary level. The NCSE is engaging intensively with more schools and school patron bodies to confirm further new special classes in the coming period. It has recruited additional special education needs organisers, SENOs, advisers and team managers. A total of 120 SENOs now operate nationwide, almost double the number we had previously.

Cavan now has two SENOs dedicated solely to supporting schools and parents in the county. SENOs play an important role in ensuring there is adequate special educational provision within local areas and support families to secure placements for children. I assure the Senator that 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.

Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Chathaoirleach and the Minister of State.

The opening of new schools and new classes is always welcome and I welcome the new special school in Monaghan. It is badly needed. There was only one school between Cavan and Monaghan. It was definitely needed, although I urge the Minister of State to ensure that school is established in a suitable premises and not one that was deemed unsuitable for students some years ago.

There is a lot more work to be done because, as the Minister of State said, we know demand is increasing. If the Government and the NCSE know that demand is increasing, there should be plans in place to ensure that there are sufficient school places for all students as they transition from preschool to primary school and then from primary school into secondary school, but that is not happening at present.

As regards SENOs, there are not enough of them. They are overworked. We need more SENOs. When I was teaching, the SENO assigned to my school knew every student who attended the school and their families and was in regular contact with them about where they should be going to school and what their needs were.That is not the case now. A lot of families do not even know who the SENO is for their area. That needs to be addressed as well.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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Before I call the Minister of State to respond, I welcome the transition year students who are here with the Office of the Ombudsman. They are very welcome.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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In conclusion, it is a priority for this Government to ensure that all children have an appropriate school placement and that the necessary supports are provided to all our schools to ensure the needs of children with special educational needs are met. 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.

More than €2.9 billion will be spent in 2025 supporting children with special educational needs. This figure builds on previous years and represents more than a quarter of the total education budget. It will provide for, among other things, 400 new special classes, 300 new special school places and will also increase special educational posts by 768 special education teachers and 1,600 special needs assistant, SNA, posts nationwide. The NCSE continues to access what additional provision is required at local areas and what schools have capacity to accommodate the required provision. As the NCSE progresses the sanctioning of new classes over the coming weeks, it will advise parents in turn on the location of new special classes for the 2025-2026 school year.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit.