Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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751.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress being made to provide additional autism units at primary and secondary schools in County Louth for the September 2024 intake of students; if she will outline plans for additional autism units to come on stream for September 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32374/24]

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.

My department works closely with the NCSE on the forward planning of new special classes and additional special school places. 402 new special classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE for the 2024/25 school year, 284 at primary and 118 at post primary level, providing over 2,400 additional special education places in mainstream schools. This brings to almost 3,400 the number of special classes nationwide.

18 of these new special classes have been sanction to open for September 2024 in County Louth, 14 at primary level and 4 at post-primary level. This brings to 101 the number of special classes in the county. The majority of these classes are autism classes the attached table provides a table of these classes.

The NCSE is confident that through the provision of the newly sanctioned classes and vacancies in existing classes there is sufficient places to meet the needs of all children known to them for September 2024.

I am determined to ensure that all children who require a placement can access this as quickly as possible. I meet with NCSE weekly to discuss progress and to ensure that every child has a school place for the coming term.

Parents seeking special class placements for their children are advised to contact the NCSE locally for planning purposes. Local special educational needs organisers (SENOs) are available to assist and advise parents and can provide details on schools with available special educational places. Parents may contact SENOs directly using the contact details available on the NCSE website.

Significant additional resources have been provided to the NCSE to allow for their expansion. We will have 120 local special educational needs organisers at a local level in September who are a pivotal point of contact for parents, guardians and schools. This together with the enhanced capacity of other services within the NCSE, will bolster the level of service and provide effective structures to relieve pressure on parents when seeking a special education placement.

My department and the NCSE will continue to work to ensure there is a sufficient level of special educational provision where and when it is required.