Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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304. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps she is taking to address the shortage of autism class spaces at both primary and secondary school level (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41328/24]

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 me as Minister for Special Education & Inclusion, 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 responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs nationwide and planning for special educational placement has already begun for the 2025/26 school year and beyond. The NCSE have recruited additional Special Education Needs Organisors (SENOs), Advisors and Team Managers. The number of SENOs has increased from 65 to 120. SENOs are currently visiting schools to conduct planning meetings. The NCSE plan to conduct up to 800 of these visits in the months of September and October.

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 are available to assist and advise parents on their options and the supports available.

I would like to outline the progress my department and the NCSE is making to ensure there is adequate special educational placements and support services for children with complex needs.

Over 1,700 classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE in recent years, in this time 11 new special schools have also been established and many more expanded. For this school year alone over 400 new special classes have been sanctioned bringing the total number of special classes nationwide to 3,336. Of these, 602 are in County Dublin and 70 are new for the 2024/25 school year, 48 at primary level and 22 at post primary level. The vast majority of these classes are autism classes and have a teacher/student ratio of 1:6.

Demand for new special classes at post-primary level is expected to increase significantly over the next few years, due to increasing demographics and increasing prevalence rates. My department and the NCSE have engaged with post-primary stakeholders in relation to the provision of special classes.

In October 2022, my department wrote to all post-primary schools requesting that each school begin planning to provide for up to four special classes to meet the needs of children progressing from primary school. The department and the NCSE continue to have engagement with post-primary school management bodies in relation to the provision of special classes and will be undertaking planning visits to schools during term 1 of this school year to assist with the forward planning of special class provision for the 2025/26 school year.