Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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425. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the basis on which special education needs teachers are allocated to mainstream schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15350/23]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank the Deputy for his question and would advise the following.

Special Education Teachers (SET) provide additional teaching support for students with special educational needs enrolled in mainstream classes in primary and post primary schools.

The Special Education Teaching allocation model provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school’s educational profile.

The SET allocation model has been in place since 2017. The allocation model, which was recommended by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), is designed to distribute the total available number of Special Education Teachers across primary and post primary schools based on the relative need of each school, as evidenced by a number of key indicators.

Special Education Teachers provide additional teaching support for students with special educational needs enrolled in mainstream classes in primary and post primary schools.

The SET model is a fairer and more transparent way of allocating teaching resources to schools.

The SET Model represented a significant shift in the way that students with SEN are supported in mainstream classes. Previously, students needing additional teaching support required a diagnosis in order to access support which caused delays in providing the support and also imposed a burden on both schools and parents. The change in policy was welcomed by both schools and parents. The Model is based on the principle that those students with the greatest need receive the most support.

The model encourages schools to support students with SEN in mainstream classes alongside their peers. In fact most students with SEN are enrolled these classes. This approach is also consistent with the EPSEN Act.

When the SET model was introduced it was designed to be updated on a regular basis so as to distribute the total available resources across the school system based on profiled need. Because the level of student need may change in a school over time, some schools will gain under this distribution, with these gains balanced by equivalent reductions in schools where the model indicates reduced need. Re-profiling is the means of ensuring that new or increasing need in schools is met by transfer/redistribution of teaching resources from other schools whose need has reduced as shown by the model.

Schools are frontloaded with resources, based on each school’s profile. The allocations to schools include provision to support all pupils in the schools, including where a child receives a diagnosis after the allocation is received by a school, or where there are newly enrolling pupils to the school.

The model encourages schools to support students with SEN in mainstream classes alongside their peers. In fact most students with SEN are enrolled these classes.

The SET resources provided to schools is based on special education needs of the pupils enrolled in the school and the resources must be utilised to ensure that students with special education needs are supported so that they can achieve the best possible educational outcome.

In April 2022, the Department issued updated staffing allocations for the 2022/23 school year to include SET allocations. This ensured that schools were aware of their teaching resources and this allowed them to make the necessary arrangements to ensure that the teaching and learning needs for pupils with SEN can be properly supported.

The next scheduled updating of a schools profile is in 2024 for the allocation for the 2024/25 school year.

In the intervening period to the next scheduled re-profiling should a school believe that there has been a changed of a significant or unexpected extent in their school’s profile they may apply to the NCSE for a SET Exceptional Review.

A process is available where schools can seek a review of their SET allocation by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), including the utilisation of their allocations. Detailed information on the NCSE review process is published on the NCSE website ncse.ie/special-education-teachers