Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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40. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the timeframe and capacity of the proposed special school in County Monaghan. [44994/24]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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My department works closely with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) on the forward planning of new special classes and additional special school places. In Budget 2025 funding was secured for up to 400 new special classes in mainstream schools, and an additional 300 special school places for the 2025/26 school year. This will deliver 2,700 new places for children.

Almost 1,700 new special classes have been opened over the last 5 years and 11 new special schools have been established in recent years. For this school year alone, over 400 new special classes have been sanctioned with classes provided in every county. Four new special schools also opened last month in counties Meath, Kildare, Wexford and Limerick.

Just last month Minster Foley and I announced that another five new special schools will be established for the next school year, two in County Dublin and one each in counties Cork, Monaghan and Tipperary. This will bring to 129 the number of NCSE supported special schools in the county.

The exact location, size of the schools and other details are currently being worked through.

However, it is envisaged that existing buildings will be repurposed, in the first instance, to facilitate the opening of the new special schools for the 2025/26 school year. This will allow the schools to open as quickly as possible.

The schools will provide for children and young people with complex special education needs from 4 years up to 18 years of age. They are being sanctioned as early as possible as part of advanced forward planning for the next school year to ensure that appropriate placements are available where needed to meet the needs of students with special educational needs. The exact initial capacity of each special school, including the new school in Monaghan will be considered further and confirmed shortly. Parents and families looking to apply for admission to the new special school will be supported and guided by the NCSE at local level and kept updated on developments.

Part of the forward planning process looks at how far students are travelling to access an education appropriate to their needs. This is an important factor which has been incorporated into the decision-making process.

The early announcement of the new schools allows more time for the planning of school admissions, recruitment of staff, staff training and completion of any necessary building works.

Dedicated working groups will be established by my Department to work through the details in relation to the establishment of the new special schools.