Written answers

Wednesday, 24 March 2021

Department of Education and Skills

Special Educational Needs

Photo of Pat BuckleyPat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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853. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of special needs secondary school places available in east County Cork for September 2021. [14446/21]

Photo of Pat BuckleyPat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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854. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children in primary special schools in need of a secondary school place in September 2021 in east County Cork. [14447/21]

Photo of Josepha MadiganJosepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 853 and 854 together.

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government.  The Department of Education will spend approximately €2 Billion or over 20% of its total educational budget in 2021 on making additional provision for children with special educational needs this year.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide. It has well established structures in place for engaging with schools and parents. NCSE seeks to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all children who have been identified as needing special education placements.   

The majority of special schools cater for students up to the age of 18. However, in the event that students are transitioning from a special school to a post-primary school, such enrolment applications are a matter for each individual board of management and the NCSE does not hold such records.

The NCSE, through its local network of SENOs (Special Educational Needs Organisers), is available to provide advice and support to parents of students that are due to transition to post-primary on the possible placement options available to their child, including mainstream placement with appropriate support, special class placement and special school placement. Post-primary placements are supported with additional resources where required.

In relation to the availability of places generally, NCSE is planning a further expansion of special class and special school places, to meet identified need. This process is ongoing.  

Currently there are 9 post-primary schools in the East Cork area with 18 special classes providing placements for almost 100 students. I understand NCSE is engaged in continuing consultation with post primary schools in the area to open additional special classes in September 2021.

It is open to any school to make an application to the NCSE for the establishment of a specialised provision and where sanctioned, a range of supports, including capital funding, is made available to the school. The NCSE provides a programme of teacher professional learning and in-school support to support schools in establishing special classes.

Notwithstanding the extent of this investment, there are some parts of the country where increases in population and other issues have led to concerns regarding a shortage of school places.  For September 2021, the NCSE is aware of a specific identified need for additional special school placements in Cork City and County and is working with my Department and the education partners towards meeting that need. 

Through better planning at both national and local level, it is my objective that specialist education places should come on stream to meet emerging demand on a timely basis. However, the active collaboration of school communities is essential in this regard. 

NCSE is aware of those parents whose children will be seeking placement for the 2021/22 academic year, including mainstream placement with appropriate support, special class placement, Early Intervention and special school placement. The NCSE continues to work to identify any and all relevant suitable placements.

The NCSE's local Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) are available to assist and advise both schools and the parents of children with special educational needs. Parents may contact SENOs directly using the contact details available at: https://ncse.ie/regional-services-contact-list. 

Information on the list of schools with special classes is available at www.ncse.ie.

Photo of Mick BarryMick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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855. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if additional secondary school places and resources for special needs children leaving junior school will be made available in Cork city before September 2021 (details supplied). [14460/21]

Photo of Josepha MadiganJosepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government.  The Department of Education will spend approximately €2 Billion or over 20% of its total educational budget in 2021 on making additional provision for children with special educational needs this year.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide. It has well established structures in place for engaging with schools and parents. NCSE seeks to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all children who have been identified as needing special education placements.

The majority of special schools cater for students up to the age of 18. However, in the event that students are transitioning from a special school to a post-primary school, such enrolment applications are a matter for each individual board of management and the NCSE does not hold such records. 

The NCSE, through its local network of SENOs (Special Educational Needs Organisers), is available to provide advice and support to parents of students that are due to transition to post-primary on the possible placement options available to their child, including mainstream placement with appropriate support, special class placement and special school placement. Post-primary placements are supported with additional resources where required. 

NCSE is planning a further expansion of special class and special school places nationally, to meet identified need. This process is ongoing.  

It is open to any school to make an application to the NCSE for the establishment of a specialised provision and where sanctioned, a range of supports, including capital funding, is made available to the school. The NCSE provides a programme of teacher professional learning and in-school support to support schools in establishing special classes.

Notwithstanding the extent of this investment, I am acutely aware that there are some parts of the country where increases in population and other issues have led to concerns regarding a shortage of school places.  For September 2021, the NCSE is aware of a specific identified need for special school placements in Cork City and County and is working with my Department and the education partners towards meeting that need. A number of options are currently being explored to increase the number of places to cater for the needs of children in this area. I can assure the Deputy that this is a priority for all concerned.  

Through better planning at both national and local level, it is my objective that specialist education places should come on stream to meet emerging demand on a timely basis. However, the active collaboration of school communities is essential in this regard. 

NCSE is aware of those parents whose children are seeking placement for the 2021/22 academic year, including mainstream placement with appropriate support, special class and special school placement. The NCSE continues to work to identify any and all relevant suitable placements.

In circumstances, where no placement is available for a child with special educational needs, the Department can provide Home Tuition grant funding towards the provision of 20 hours home tuition per week as an interim measure until the NCSE confirms that a placement is available. 

The NCSE's local Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) are available to assist and advise both schools and the parents of children with special educational needs. Parents may contact SENOs directly using the contact details available at:https://ncse.ie/regional-services-contact-list. 

Information on the list of schools with special classes is available at www.ncse.ie.

Photo of Mark WardMark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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856. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the provision of an ASD unit on the grounds of a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14473/21]

Photo of Mark WardMark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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857. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the approval of the DDLETB for the rental of temporary accommodation of a SEN classroom base for a school (details supplied) from September 2021 for one year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14474/21]

Photo of Norma FoleyNorma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 856 and 857 together.

The school building project to which the Deputy refers has been approved funding under my Department's Additional Accommodation Scheme to enable the school to build a two-classroom SEN Base. 

Furthermore, to meet the school's interim accommodation needs, rental for one temporary classroom was approved for Sept 2021 to meet incoming enrolments.  The project has been devolved for delivery to Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB (DDLETB).

The main extension project was recently approved to go to the planning stage.  Both projects are currently with DDLETB and responsibility for progressing the extension and the works in respect of the  temporary accommodation rests with DDLETB.

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