Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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203. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if additional supports could be put in place at a facility (details supplied) for a student who has a diagnosis of autism and an intellectual disability and is non-verbal. [27899/24]

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 NCSE is responsible for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs). SNAs are allocated to schools as a school based resource and schools deploy SNAs in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of their students.

My department is aware of an application from the school for additional supports and the NCSE will be in direct contact with the school regarding the application.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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204. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a school (details supplied) has been denied opening a second ASD class despite demand and now six children have been denied a class place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27916/24]

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 NCSE has advised my department that this school recently expressed an interest in opening a second special class. The NCSE actively encourages expressions of interest from schools to open special classes, and I appreciate and commend the efforts taken by boards of management in expressing their interest.

When considering to establish a special class the NCSE assess the needs in the local area. The NCSE identify schools in the neighbouring vicinity with available special class vacancies and assess their capability with consideration to demographical and statistical data. The NCSE advise my department that there are schools in the local area with existing vacancies.

The NCSE acknowledge that circumstances may change, and they are committed to ensuring that both the parents and the school receive the necessary advice and support.

383 new special classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE for the 2024/25 school year, of these 8 are in county Mayo. this brings the overall number of special classes in the county to 73.

Parents seeking special class placements for their children are advised to contact the NCSE locally so that their needs can be taken into account for planning purposes. Local special educational needs organisers (SENOs) are available to assist and advise parents of children with special educational needs and can be contacted directly using the details available on the NCSE’s website.

Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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205. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures she is taking to establish a special school to serve the identifiable need across Dublin 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27923/24]

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 new special schools established over recent years have focused on providing additional places in our largest urban areas: Dublin and Cork. The most recent of these new special schools to open was An Cosán Special School in Dublin 7 which opened in May.

Prior to this, both Our Lady of Hope special school in Crumlin and Libermann special school in Templeogue have opened in recent years. Libermann special school are expanding to take an additional 12 students for the coming school year and a new school building project is being planned which will support over 150 students in this new special school. Capacity is also being expanded in a number of other special schools across Dublin.

My department and NCSE continue to work on expanding special school capacity for the 2024/25 school year and beyond. In planning for increased special school places, the department and NCSE review all of the available data on the growing need for special school places across the country. This involves a detailed analysis of enrolment trends and the potential for existing special schools in a region to expand.

An important consideration when deciding to establish or expand provision in an existing special school is the distances that some students are travelling in order to access a special school placement.

My department and the NCSE are continually reviewing where additional capacity is required in existing special schools or in what regions a new special school may need to be established over the coming years.

It is estimated that a further 300 new special school places may be required each year for the coming years. When looking to provide additional capacity the department’s preferred option is to increase provision in existing special schools if possible.