Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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33. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the up-to-date plans for the school inclusion model; the timeline for this plan; if costs have been determined for this plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44957/24]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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In June 2024 I announced the establishment of the Educational Therapy Support Service (ETSS), which will see the appointment, on a permanent basis, of 39 occupational and speech and language therapists. The cost of the expansion has been provided for in the NCSE budget and on this basis, the NCSE are fully funded to facilitate the recruitment of the additional therapists required from existing resources. Terms and conditions are being finalised and it is anticipated that recruitment for the remaining therapists will commence shortly.

The expansion of therapy services within the NCSE is expected to build on the achievements and impact of the in-school therapy supports services in the School Inclusion Model (SIM) pilot. SIM provided speech and language and occupational therapists the opportunity to systematically build the capacity of school communities to meet student’s needs.

The overarching purpose of the Educational Therapy Support Service will be to improve learning outcomes for students, ensure teachers are better equipped to support all students and ensure that the right resource is available to meet the needs of individual children to support better educational outcomes.

The Educational Therapy Support Service provides two strands of support: sustained in-school therapy for a period of 24 months, in line with the SIM model and regional therapy support. Regional therapy support includes teacher professional learning seminars with follow-up in-school implementation support and the design and development of therapy resources with education colleagues.

Since the establishment of the Education Therapy Support Service, the NCSE have invited all schools in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow to apply for two years of sustained in-school therapy support, where they would have a Speech and Language Therapist and Occupational Therapist working with their school for two academic years.

A robust prioritisation process ensued and initially 22 schools have been prioritised for NCSE sustained in-school support for 2024-2026. The number of schools being supported under this model is expected to grow in line with recruitment.

Furthermore, regional therapy support has been advertised to all schools in the Dublin Kildare and Wicklow region. The first seminars and in-school support for teachers began in October 2024.

Limerick has been identified as the most suitable hub for the Western region and it is anticipated that schools in Limerick and Tipperary will be invited to apply for sustained in-school support in early 2025, subject to the recruitment of appropriate personnel by the NCSE.

It is envisaged that teacher professional learning seminars for both Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy, with follow up in-school support, will be available nationally for 2025/2026.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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34. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason schools are not receiving funding to open special classes where there is demand for same and a recommendation by a local SENO; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44917/24]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, almost 1,700 classes have been opened in the last 5 years and 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 3,337. 48 of these classes are in County Roscommon, 7 are new for the 2024/25 school year, 6 at primary level and 1 at post-primary level.

Budget 2025 provides funding for another 400 special classes and 300 special school places for the 2025/2026 school year.

I think that by any measure, given the continued acceleration of special education provision, it is not fair to say that schools are not receiving funding to open special classes. I would like to assure the Deputy that this is not the case.

In relation to the forward planning of special classes, my Department considers it prudent to maximise the use of existing accommodation in schools, within geographic areas, when looking to establish a special class in the first instance. This consideration is prior to the establishment of any additional special class that may require additional accommodation e.g., modular accommodation.

If there is no available accommodation, particularly at post-primary level and special school level, my department will continue to provide additional classroom accommodation to provide necessary places. At primary level, as enrolments are estimated to drop considerably over the next few years it is expected that some schools will have available accommodation that can be repurposed as a special class.

The refurbishment of an available classroom can ensure that a new special class is available quickly and it can help a school to retain an experienced teacher if general enrolments are falling.

This overall approach is consistent with the department’s commitment to supporting the educational needs of children who require specialist placements while at the same time meeting the requirements of the government’s infrastructure guidelines.

The NCSE has recruited additional special education needs organisers (SENOs), advisors and team managers. There is now a SENO dedicated solely to County Roscommon. SENOs are currently visiting schools to conduct planning meetings. These visits will be key in terms of forward planning for the 2025/26 school year. The NCSE is specifically targeting medium and larger primary schools who don’t yet have a special class to open a new special class,

My department and the NCSE are engaging with schools and school management bodies in relation to the provision of future special classes and are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements will be available for children for the next school year and future years.

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.

I would ask any school that is interested in opening a new special class to continue to engage at local level with the NCSE in the first instance.