Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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89. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when her Department will initiate its review of reading classes and reading schools for children and young persons with special needs; what the terms of reference will be; when she estimates that the review will be concluded; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35293/21]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that I recently requested the Department to arrange for a review of the policy on reading classes and schools.

The review will be informed by the Department's Inspectorate’s research and development work which facilitates thematic review of provision and practice in schools. The work will involve visits to a number of education settings for children with specific learning disabilities and the gathering of evidence in line with the normal Inspectorate inspection model.

It is expected that the Inspectorate's work will be completed during the period October to December 2021, with composite findings becoming available thereafter and will be published.

These findings, together with any relevant recommendations emerging from the NCSE Policy Advice on Special Classes and Special Schools currently in development, will be considered at that stage to determine the actions required to finalise the review.

The outcome of this work will inform future Department policy on supporting children with special educational needs particularly in relation to reading and literacy.

I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department continues to prioritise investment in special education, with over €2 Billion due to be spent on special education this year.

For the coming school year there will be over 13,600 Special Education Teachers allocated to mainstream schools, who will support class teachers to address the special educational needs and learning needs of pupils who attend mainstream schools.

This year we are also providing for two new special schools and 269 new special classes.

For the 2021/22 school year, we will have a total of 2118 special classes, which is the largest number of special classes that we have ever had, and compares to 548 classes available in 2011.

18,000 Special Needs Assistants will also be available to support the care needs of pupils with special educational needs in our schools.

For the 2019/20 school year, 10,328 pupils attended special classes, which represents just over 1% of the total pupil population.

There are also 124 special schools which provide specialist educational services for pupils who have the most severe or complex levels of disabilities, or special educational needs.

We will continue to invest in and support young people with additional needs whether in the area of reading or otherwise.