Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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140. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will outline in detail the additional supports available in secondary schools for pupils with a diagnosis of autism; if there is a provision in place to offer regular engagement with speech and language therapy and reading supports; and if she will outline other ancillary services which can be availed of by pupils and parents to support a fair educational opportunity. [25347/23]

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

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government.

For 2023, the spend by my Department on special education will be substantially increased by over 10% on last year, meaning that for 2023 my Department will spend over €2.6 billion on special education.

This level of educational funding and support is unprecedented and represents in excess of 27% of the Department’s total allocation for 2023.

This includes additional teaching and care supports. It also includes funding for the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) for an additional 54 psychologists to provide services to special schools and special classes.

In 2023 the number of teaching and special need assistant (SNA) posts in our schools will increase with an additional 686 teachers and a further 1,194 SNAs in our schools next year.

For the first time ever we will have over 19,000 teachers working in the area of special education and over 20,000 SNAs. Together we have almost 40,000 qualified and committed people in our schools who are focused wholly and exclusively on supporting children with special educational needs.

It is my Department’s policy, in accordance with the principles of inclusive education, that pupils with additional learning needs are supported in mainstream classes along with their peers, with additional supports provided as necessary.

The Department provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools, which have enrolled pupils with special educational needs in order to ensure that wherever a child is enrolled, they will have access to an appropriate education.

The functions of the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) include planning and coordinating the provision of education and support services to children with special educational needs in conjunction with schools and the Health Service Executive (HSE).

The NCSE, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports as required. The NCSE is aware of emerging need from year to year and where special provision is required it is planned and established to meet that need.

The allocation of Special Education Teachers (SET) 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.

In addition, Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) play a central role in the successful inclusion of students with additional and significant care needs into mainstream education, special classes and special schools ensuring that these students can access an education to enable them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.

The NCSE provides support for teachers with additional training needs in the area of special education, through the NCSE support service which manages, co-ordinates and develops a range of supports in response to identified teacher training needs.

This support service provides Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) to teachers of pupils with a variety of special educational needs. The NCSE continues to update current TPL courses for teachers and design new TPL courses in response to the needs of teachers.

Detailed information on the comprehensive programme of TPL seminars on a variety of special educational needs topics is published on the NCSE website and is available at:ncse.ie/tpl

When allocating resources schools take into account the learning needs of students as evidenced by performance in schools but also supported where relevant by information provided regarding the nature of a condition that a student may have. Specific interventions are therefore tailored, by the school, to the individual’s needs, rather than being generic to a specific difficulty, disability or condition.

My Department also provides funding for assistive technologies for children where they are required. Information on these supports is available also via the local SENO.

In March 2022, my Department published an interactive guidance document, ‘Autism Good Practice Guidance for Schools: Supporting Children and Young People’ as a resource for schools and others.

This guidance document has been developed as a resource for schools to support the needs of students with autism. It aims to assist teachers, SNAs and others working with children and young people with autism in an education setting to understand their needs so that there can be effective engagement.

The guidance was developed by an expert working group drawn from the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), the NCSE, the department’s Inspectorate and the Middletown Centre for Autism.

It is designed to help support the wellbeing, learning and participation of children and young people with autism in education. It aims to assist school staff to understand the varied nature of students’ strengths and needs, as well as to identify whole-school and individualised approaches to supports for students.

These supports along with developed curriculum aim to provide a child/young person with the highest standard of education in mainstream classes, special classes and special schools.

The provision of health-related supports, including speech and language therapy services, is the responsibility of the Health Service Executive (HSE), and matters in relation to the provision of health-related services should therefore be directed to that body or to the Department of Health.

My Department and the NCSE 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.