Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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484. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of additional special needs classes introduced in the Dún Laoghaire area in the past 18 months; the number in train to be introduced over the next 18 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46730/21]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government.

The level of investment in special education, at almost €2 billion, is at an all-time high.

An additional 269 special classes are being opened this school-year. This will bring the total number of special classes nationally to 2,118. The new classes provide 1,600 additional places, spread right throughout the country.

Two new special schools are also opening this year, one in Dublin and one in Cork.

Despite this unprecedented increase, I am very aware of the need for further specialist education places in a small number of areas, mainly concentrated in Dublin.

Currently, there are forty three special classes for students with autism attached to mainstream primary and post-primary schools in Dún Laoghaire. Eleven of these classes have opened in the past eighteen months, providing placements for 258 students in the area. This also includes three Early Intervention classes.

I acknowledge that any delay in securing a suitable school placement can cause much anguish for parents and families involved.

Delays can happen for a variety of reasons including, for example, assessment reports for children becoming available over the summer period while schools were closed. In other cases, parents may change their preference for a class placement and request that their child move from a mainstream class to a special class.

My Department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) have therefore put in place new planning structures and procedures to ensure sufficient places become available to meet local need. As new need emerges, there is a cohesive response available to ensure places become available in a timely and targeted way.

The willingness of school communities to open special classes is central to ensuring that every child can obtain a suitable placement. My Department and the NCSE can provide the necessary funding, teaching and SNA resources, professional supports and training so that the required special class places can be provided as soon as possible.

The NCSE is currently in communication with all schools in the Dún Laoghaire/South Dublin area regarding additional special class provision.

My Department will support their work in any way necessary to ensure the required number of school places become available as quickly as possible.