Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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130. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools in each county with ASD units at primary and post-primary level, in tabular form; the name of each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28782/19]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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131. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools in each county that have applied for funding for the provision of ASD units at primary and post-primary level, in tabular form; the name of each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28783/19]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 130 and 131 together.

At present, the Department of Education and Skills is investing heavily in supporting our children with special educational needs, with €1.8bn being spent annually, about €1 in every 5 of the education budget.

Investment in this area includes an allocation of over €300 million towards providing additional resources specifically to support students with Autism in schools.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through its network of local SENOs, in consultation with the relevant education partners, is responsible for identifying the need for and sanctioning the resourcing of special classes and special school placements in various geographical areas where there is an identified need.

It is open to any school to make an application to the NCSE for the establishment of a specialised provision and where sanctioned, there is a range of supports including capital funding available to the school.

Special Classes can be established within a schools existing accommodation. In such circumstances the school can apply to the Department for capital funding to re-configure existing spaces within the school building to accommodate the class and/or to construct additional accommodation.

In the case of all new schools, it is general practice to include a Special Education Needs Base (SEN Base) in the accommodation brief for new school buildings, unless local circumstances indicate that it will not be required. Typically, a two classroom SEN Base is provided in new primary schools and a two or four classroom SEN Base is provided in new post primary schools.

There are now 1,459 special classes in place, compared to 548 in 2011, including 1,196 special classes cater for students diagnosed with ASD – 131 Early Intervention, 743 Primary and 322 Post-primary.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) have advised that for the 2019/20 school year there will be a total of 1,618 special classes of which 1,353 will be for children diagnosed with autism.

124 special schools also provide specialist education for those students with complex special educational needs.

Details of all special classes for children with special educational needs are available in tabular form by county on the NCSE website at

Details of primary and post primary schools where Special Education Needs Bases have been approved may be viewed on my Department's website at and this information is updated regularly.