Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special classes and special school places are provided.

Over 320 new special classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE nationwide for the 2024/25 school year. This means there are now over 3,000 special classes in our education system. While the vast majority of new classes have now been sanctioned by the NCSE for the coming school year, the NCSE will continue to sanction some additional classes for the coming school year if they are required. As these new classes are sanctioned, the NCSE will support families to make applications for places. Attached is a breakdown by county of these special classes sanctioned as of 21 May 2024.

My department engages intensely with the NCSE in relation to the forward planning of new special classes and additional special school places. This forward planning work is well underway ahead of the 2024/25 school year. This work involves a detailed review of statistical data in relation to forecasting demand for special class places, an analysis of available school accommodation, consideration of improved data sharing arrangements and a particular focus on the provision of special classes at post-primary level.

As a result of this forward planning, 1,700 new special classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE and seven new special schools have been established in recent years. In addition, four new special schools will be established for the 2024/25 school year in counties Meath, Kildare, Wexford and Limerick.

For 2024, €2.7 billion is being spent on special education, an increase of €113 million, and this is dedicated to providing supports for children with special educational needs. This will allow for, amongst other things, the opening of up to 400 new special classes in mainstream schools, 300 additional special school places and will increase the number of teaching and SNA posts to deliver up to 2,700 new places for children with special educational needs.

My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements will be available for children for this school year and future years.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special classes and special school places are provided.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) Support Service manages, co-ordinates and develops a range of supports in response to identified teacher training needs.

This service provides a range of Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) designed in line with the Cosán Framework of the Teaching Council and consists of seminars, post seminar workshops, cluster supports, communities of practice and in school support visits. A range of these TPL modules are centred on the guidance provided though my department's 'Autism Good Practice Guidance for Schools' publication which is designed to help school leader's teachers, special needs assistants (SNAs) and other school staff respond to the needs of students with autism.

Teacher's have a clear pathway to further develop their professional learning through the NCSE seminars and teachers are further supported through funding provided by my department via the NCSE to complete a variety of training programmes. These programmes focused on special education range from whole staff training for schools to post graduate programmes for teachers at Master and PHD level.

The NCSE provide specific training annually to schools opening new special classes.

In addition, the NCSE advisors provide in-school supports to primary, post-primary and special schools tailored to meet the needs of individual schools with specialist training provided where required to teachers and SNAs through the Middletown Centre for Autism.

Detailed information on the comprehensive programme of TPL seminars, postgraduate opportunities and on a variety of other special educational needs training supports is available on the NCSE website.

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.