Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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480. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide, in tabular form, the number of special schools currently in receipt of funding; the number of special classes in primary and secondary schools; the number of proposed schools and classes under consideration; the cost of provision of each school and special class; the numbers of pupils attending these schools and classes; and the number of teachers assigned to these schools and classes. [17551/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible the establishment of special classes in various geographical areas as required, and for planning for future special school provision. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support.

The NCSE published policy advice on Supporting Students with Special Educational Needs in Schools in 2013. This policy advice provides a breakdown of the 119 Special Schools operating in Ireland and notes that approximately 7,094 students were enrolled in Special schools in 2012/13 with 1,078 teaching posts supporting these students. This breakdown also notes the enrolments for each school.

Details of the list of special schools is provided in Appendix 1 at:

The report also notes that there were 628 special classes in operation in 2012/13, 495 attached to mainstream Primary schools and a further 133 attached to mainstream Post Primary schools, with a total of 3,678 pupils enrolled in the classes.

For the 2015/16 school year there are currently 858 special classes in place, including 653 special classes in primary schools and 205 classes in post primary schools. Details of the location of all of these special classes, on a per county basis, is available at .

The NCSE is also currently considering applications by schools to establish new special classes for the coming 2015/16 school year. This work is on going and SENOs continue to liaise and work with schools in order to meet the demand for such placements at local level.

I wish to advise the Deputy that information regarding expenditure in relation to the provision of services for children with special educational needs occurs across a number of separate divisional areas such as, for example, salary costs for additional teaching and SNA supports, school building adaptations, assistive technology, transport arrangements, and enhanced capitation payable. As such, it is not possible to provide details of disaggregated expenditure for each school and class.

However, I can advise the Deputy that some €1.37 billion will be spent in support of children with Special Educational Needs this year, which represents approximately 15% of my Department's budget, which is the highest level of investment that we have ever had. This investment will ensure that children with special educational needs can continue to participate in education and be supported in a manner appropriate to their needs.