Written answers

Thursday, 30 June 2022

Department of Education and Skills

Special Educational Needs

Photo of Matt ShanahanMatt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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29. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views on the latest report from the Ombudsman for Children's office, which suggested her Department is failing children with special educational needs regarding the provision of suitable school places, (details supplied); the new plans that are being put into place to address the matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34956/22]

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

It is also a key priority for me as Minister for Special Education & Inclusion, for my Department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

The Deputy will be aware that I have welcomed the Report of the Ombudsman on forward planning for special education placements and I am committed to working with stakeholders in relation to the implementation of the recommendations as quickly as possible.

Throughout the last year, the Department has had a very significant level of engagement with the OCO as this report was developed. 

The recommendations contained in the Report build on many of the strategic initiatives already put in place, particularly in the last 2 years, to support and expand special education needs (SEN) provision in schools throughout the country.  An additional 300 special classes have opened in the current school-year providing 1,800 new placements. A further 315 special classes are already planned for 2022/23. Two new special schools opened in Cork and Dublin last September with two further special schools to open in these areas during the next school-year.

 In 2022, we will spend over 25% of our total educational budget on providing additional supports for children with SEN. This represents an increase of over 60%, in total expenditure, since 2011.

We are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

Continuing to add capacity in schools to support SEN provision is a key priority with a particular emphasis at post-primary level.

The Department’s Geographic Information Management System (GIS) will continue to support a strategic and coordinated approach to planning and delivery of SEN provision. This includes “real-time” data on capacity across the school system.

The Department is working actively with the NCSE and other key stakeholders including School Patrons and Management Bodies to provide additional special classes and special school places for the 2022/23 school year.

The NCSE policy advice on special class and special school provision is due later this year and this will be significant in terms of how the Department plans for any changes to the way in which children and young people with SEN are supported.

My officials are also working with the Department of Health, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the HSE to develop and strengthen more coherent structures to enable children and young people to access therapeutic assessments and supports.

NCSE will continue to provide a wide range of training supports to schools, including in-school support with targeted and bespoke supports available to the management and staff of new special classes and new special schools.

The Deputy will also be aware that my Department has actively engaged in reviewing and updating the relevant legislation at this time. Earlier this week the Government approved the text of an Education (Provision in Respect of Children with Special Educational Needs) Bill 2022. This legislation provides for a truncated and more streamlined Section 37A process and also places additional duties on schools to co-operate with the NCSE in relation to making additional provision for children with special educational needs.

I can assure the Deputy that every support will be made available to progress additional special education capacity, in the shortest possible timeframe.

Photo of Alan DillonAlan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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30. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of special needs teachers and assistants who are supporting pupils in primary, secondary and special schools in the current academic year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34860/22]

Photo of Josepha MadiganJosepha 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.

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 Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs.  Such support is provided in order to facilitate the attendance of those pupils at school and also to minimise disruption to class or teaching time for the pupils concerned, or for their peers, and with a view to developing their independent living skills. 

Budget 2022 provides funding for an additional 1,165 SNAs (in 2022) to provide support to children with special educational needs, which will bring the total number of SNAs to 19,169 at the end of December 2022.  

Provision for 19,169 SNAs as at 31stDecember 2022 will represent an increase of 81% since 2011 at which time 10,575 were provided. 

The Special Education Teaching (SET) allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school’s educational profile. This model has replaced the previous model of allocating resource teaching support and learning support to schools based on a diagnosis of disability

The Special Education Teacher allocation, allows schools to provide additional teaching support for all pupils who require such support in their schools and for schools to deploy resources based on each pupil’s individual learning needs. 

13,765 Special Education Teaching (SET) posts currently exist within mainstream primary and post primary schools. This enables schools to provide additional teaching support for all pupils who require such support and to deploy resources based on each pupil’s individual learning needs. It gives flexibility to schools in deploying their resources.  They can take account of the actual learning needs of pupils rather than being guided primarily by a particular diagnosis of disability. The Department has published guidelines for schools as to how they should deploy their resources.  Budget 2022 provides for an additional 620 new SET posts in special education.  This will bring the total number of SET in the mainstream school system to 14,385 in 2022. 

The allocation gives greater flexibility to schools as to how they can deploy their resources, to take account of the actual learning needs pupils have, as opposed to being guided by a particular diagnosis of disability, and schools are guided as to how they should make such allocation decisions.

The school will take account of learning needs of children as evidenced by performance in schools but also supported where relevant by information provided regarding the nature of a condition that a pupil may have.

In terms of Special Schools 1,305 teacher are allocated for the school year 2022/23 as at  30th May 2022 with 2,825 SNA's allocated.

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