Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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543. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of special educational needs organisers in each county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31906/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the recruitment and management of Special Education Needs Organisers. Accordingly, the question has been referred to the NCSE for direct reply.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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544. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of special educational needs organisers in the north Kildare constituency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31907/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the recruitment and management of Special Education Needs Organisers. Accordingly, the question has been referred to the NCSE for direct reply.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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545. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children listed as requiring special education needs; the number of children who require special education needs places in schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31908/22]

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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546. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children in the north Kildare constituency who require a special needs education school place; the number who have one; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31909/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 545 and 546 together.

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government. This year, my Department will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget on providing a wide range of schemes and supports for children with special educational needs. This includes additional teaching and care supports. As a result, the number of special education teachers, special needs assistants and special class and school places are at unprecedented levels.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide.

Over the last two years, my Department and the NCSE have worked closely on a more streamlined and joined up planning process which has ensured a targeted approach to meet demand for special needs placements ahead of each new school-year.

I am satisfied that this more joined up approach is delivering. Through this intensive intervention, we have seen over 300 special classes, providing over 1,800 new places, opened nationwide for the 2021/22 school-year.

I also acknowledge that 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.

In terms of Kildare, I can confirm that the NCSE is aware of an identified need for additional special classes for students with autism in primary and post-primary schools. Work has been underway with stakeholders for a number of years in this area to meet the demand for places.

NCSE has well established structures in place for engaging with schools and parents and seeks to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all children who have been identified as needing special class placements.

NCSE is continuing to engage with schools regarding the establishment of additional special classes for 2022/23 and beyond. There are specific plans in place to open additional special classes and every support will be made available to progress their opening in the shortest possible timeframe with a particular focus on September next.

It is of course open to any school to engage with the NCSE to establish a special class.

My Department is committed, in conjunction with the NCSE, to continue to work with parents, schools, patrons and all stakeholders to ensure that there are sufficient appropriate places for students with additional needs and to support all students to achieve their potential.

I want to reassure you also that my Department will continue to support the NCSE and schools through the provision of the necessary funding and capital investment to ensure all children are successful in accessing an education.

A full list of special classes and special schools is available on the NCSE website:

ncse.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/NCSE-Special-School-Allocations-21-22-website-03-12-2021.pdfand

ncse.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Final-2021_2022-Sp-Class-list-25_03_22.pdf.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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547. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children with special education needs who have been referred to Tusla for so-called school refusal in each of the past five years and to date in 2022, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31910/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) employs Educational Welfare Officers throughout the country to provide support, guidance and advice to all schools and parents with regard to school attendance issues. All referrals to TESS are screened and prioritised for intervention by an Educational Welfare Officer (EWO). While referrals are primarily received from schools, parents and other professionals can also make a referral. The Educational Welfare service provides a service to all children, and does not specifically collate school refusal information for children with special education needs.

TESS Educational Welfare Officers take a supportive welfare-based approach working with families and children in a child-centred way to overcome barriers to their school attendance, participation, and retention. They work closely with schools, educational support services and other agencies to support school attendance, this is done through home visits, educational welfare conferences and collaboratively working with different agencies. The main priority is to identify effective interventions and supports which will promote the engagement, attendance, and retention of the child/young person in school and to ensure their right to an education is protected.

The National Council for Special Education was set up to improve the delivery of education services to persons with special educational needs arising from disabilities with particular emphasis on children. The NCSE performs a number of roles in our educational system and key amongst these are the provision of supports to our schools to promote a continuum of educational provision, so as to ensure that what is delivered is inclusive and meets the needs of students with special educational needs. The NCSE plays a critical role in ensuring that policy and provision develops and evolves, so that students with special educational needs are helped to perform to their potential and achieve good education and life outcome.

In addition, the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides a comprehensive, school-based psychological service to all primary and post primary schools through the application of psychological theory and practice to support the wellbeing, academic, social and emotional development of all learners. NEPS provides a casework service to schools through the assigned NEPS psychologist.  NEPS provides support for students at risk of educational disadvantage and those with special educational needs. NEPS supports the promotion of the wellbeing and good mental health for all students in schools.

NEPS engage with reluctant attendance and emotional based school avoidance through their casework service, working with children and young people, parents/guardians and school staff. School refusal is a complex issue that often requires an integrated response from schools, parents, education partners (including TESS), and occasionally from other agencies in the child and family support sphere including the NCSE and the HSE.

NEPS have developed a resource for parents/guardians  and for school staff on Managing Reluctant Attendance & School Avoidance Behaviour which is available on the gov.ie website.