Written answers

Wednesday, 22 January 2025

Department of Education and Skills

Special Educational Needs

Photo of Niamh SmythNiamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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626. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to review correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1633/25]

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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As you are aware enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for government. Thanks to considerable investment in special education in recent years 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 National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs. Almost 1,700 classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE in the last 5 years, 11 new special schools have 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.

7 of these new special classes opened in County Cavan. This brings to 59 the total number of special classes in Cavan for the 2024/25 school year. Budget 2025 provides funding for another 400 special classes and 300 special school places nationwide.

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.

The NCSE have recently recruited additional SENOs, advisors and team managers. 120 SENOs now operate nationwide, two of these are operating solely in County Cavan.

SENOs play an important role in ensuring there is adequate special educational provision within local areas and are currently visiting schools nationwide to conduct planning meetings. Over 1,000 school planning visits have occurred in recent months. These planning visits have been key to the NCSE in determining what new provision can be provided and it is expected that the NCSE will sanction a number of new special classes in the coming weeks. The initial focus of this work at primary level has been on medium to larger primary schools with no special class or just 1 special class.

The NCSE continue to assess what additional provision is required in local areas and what schools have capacity to accommodate required provision. The NCSE will progress the sanctioning of new special classes over the coming weeks and will advise parents in turn on the location of new special classes for the 2025/26 school year.

I commend any school, such as the school referred to by the Deputy, for their interest in opening a special class. It may not always be possible for the NCSE to open new special classes in every school that expresses an interest. But the NCSE will continue to keep the matter under review with regard to the local level of need in the area.

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