Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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61. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to reports of primary schools still being asked to carry out educational needs assessments for children, despite teachers not having the necessary psychology qualifications; the number of schools her Department or the NCSE asked to carry out such assessments in the 2023-2024 school year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27449/24]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The Assessment of Need (AON) is a statutory process under the Disability Act (2005) whereby the Health Service Executive (HSE) reports on the health and education needs of a child/young person. The provision of Guidelines for the assessment of needs process is a matter for the HSE.

With regards to the education aspect, if within the AON process the HSE Assessment Officer forms the opinion there may be a need for an education service to be provided to an applicant, they will request the NCSE to nominate persons with the appropriate expertise to assist in carrying out the assessment of education needs. The NCSE is obliged to nominate a person with appropriate expertise to assist in the carrying out of the assessment of education needs. Where the child is enrolled in a school, the Education of Persons with Special Education Needs Act (EPSEN) 2004 identifies the principal as one of the person(s) the NCSE can nominate. In turn, the principal may nominate a teacher in the school to assist in carrying out an assessment of education needs. One of the functions of a school, as detailed in the Education Act (1998), is to ensure that the education needs of all children and young people, including those with a disability or other special educational needs, are identified and provided for.

The educational component of the AON process refers to assessment of education needs. Assessment in education is an everyday practice in schools which results in the identification of a child’s education need and the measures required to address these needs.

Schools provide for the inclusion and participation of all students and provide an education which is appropriate to a student’s abilities and needs. Identification of education needs, therefore, is central to the way schools operate. This aligns with the obligations on schools arising from the Education Act 1998. Teachers use a range of assessment practices as part of the Continuum of Support framework. This enables the school to identify, address and review progress in meeting the academic, social and emotional needs of the pupil, as well as other education needs.

Schools have been provided with a range of resources to ensure that the education needs of all students, including those with a disability or other special education needs, are identified and supported. In announcing the introduction of the Special Education Teacher (SET) allocation model, the Department of Education issued Guidelines for Primary and Post-Primary schools (2017) to assist them in identifying and providing for the special education and learning needs of students. The Guidelines allow for schools to utilise a portion of their SET allocation to coordinate activities relating to special education. In that regard, schools have been advised that they can use SET coordination time to complete AON forms.

Furthermore, a recent court judgment found that teachers have the appropriate expertise and are suitably qualified to be nominated by the NCSE to assist in carrying out an assessment of education needs.

Therefore, schools may be nominated by the NCSE to complete an assessment of education needs and requested to complete the Report of Education Needs in order to assist the HSE in their Assessment of Need process.

In addition the NCSE and Department have put in place comprehensive supports to assist schools in completing the educational component of the HSE’s AON process. These include:

Detailed guidance

• An FAQ document
• Email support at
• Phone support or further access to online and in person specialist support

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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62. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of primary school students in mainstream classes with additional educational needs; if this information could be collected from schools on the primary online database; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27450/24]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank the deputy for the question.

As the deputy is aware the allocation of Special Education Teaching and Special Needs Assistant resources are allocated as a school resource and not to individual pupils.

When special education resources are allocated to schools based on their profile of need, it does not dictate what child receives support. The deployment of resources within a school is the responsibility of the Board of Management and the school

All schools must deploy their SET resources in line with the continuum of support. Primacy within the continuum of support is that the child with the greatest level of need is provided with the greatest level of support.

The data on supports provided to pupils is currently maintained at individual school level and is not available at education system level.

The department, along with stakeholders, are cognisant that the model needs to continue to evolve so that the allocations process takes into account new or improved data sources and other changes within the school system.

As part of the recent review of the SET allocation model, my department is very much aware that additional data is available in individual schools which may not be available consistently across all schools and a key focus of the roadmap is to develop an accurate and verifiable system to capture such data. The use of Primary Online Database (POD) and the Post Primary Online Database (PPOD) will be investigated as a vehicle for such data.

A phased high level plan has been compiled to further enhance the model over the coming years. The department intends to undertake further detailed consultations with our education partners in the development of future enhancements to the model. The initial focus will be on areas such as:

• Development of a revised process for resourcing new schools and those in early stages of development
• Development of a mechanism for transfer of resources from primary to post primary based on changing demographics
• Examination of geographically isolated schools
• Examination of additional potential data sets already available in schools or other areas within the early years settings that could support greater sensitivity in the model.
• Delivery of a package of training and supports on the use of the continuum and education passports

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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63. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if changes to the system for requesting primary school supports could be made in order to allow schools to request supports for incoming junior infant pupils with additional needs before the first day of school, in order that those necessary supports are there immediately for the child. [27451/24]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank the deputy for the question.

I want to take this opportunity to outline that as part of the review of Special Education Teaching allocation process, my department has introduced a number of initiatives to address the specific matter raised.

The moving of the allocation process to an annual basis for 2024/25 school year removes the time lag where school profiles were only amended on a 2/3 year cycle. The change to an annual cycle makes it more responsive for schools in terms of supporting incoming infant pupils.

As part of the 2024/25 allocation process my department is working with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and streamlined the review process for SET hours.

As part of this streamlining of reviews there was a much reduced administrative burden on schools and the reviews were conducted in a short timeframe between March and May so that schools would know their full allocation to support the children arriving to junior infants in September.

For new and developing schools, the process was streamlined even further and schools in this category who submitted a review were advised of their revised allocation within a couple of weeks.

Where schools have additional identified need in their school, they received the resources they need for this and these recent SET reviews demonstrate this.

Additional resources have been provided to schools in cases where the NCSE have identified that this is required. 220 reviews were received and of the 158 schools who proceeded to a full review, 85% have received additional resources, with over 1,200 additional hours being allocated to these schools. All Reviews have been completed and finalised and all schools were advised by the NCSE of their revised allocation before the end of the school year so that they could plan accordingly for the commencement of the 2024/25 school.

Similarly the NCSE have revised and streamlined the SNA review process and this allows schools to apply for additional SNA support where required ahead of the commencement of the new school year. This again supports schools by having resources available ahead of the of arrival of junior infants.

The department, along with stakeholders, are cognisant that the model needs to continue to evolve so that the Special Education Teacher allocations process takes into account new or improved data sources and other changes within the school system including incoming junior infants.