Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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484. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for any details on the general location of an additional special school in Dublin north; the projected student intake; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3169/25]

Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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487. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the plans in place for a new special needs school at a location (details supplied); the time frame for the completion of works; whether the new building will be a temporary or permanent structure; the number of students it is envisaged this school will accommodate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3174/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 484 and 487 together.

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.

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. Building on successive budgets, Budget 2025 secured funding 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.

Part of the forward planning process as to where new classes, schools or expansion is required 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. Consideration is also given to the information the NCSE hold at local level on the number of children seeking a special school place in a region.

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 in counties Meath, Kildare, Wexford and Limerick.

As you are aware 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 special school in Dublin north will be located in Balgriffin Park, Belmayne.

Dedicated working groups have been established by my department to work through the details in relation to the establishment of the new special schools.

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 exact initial capacity of each special school will be considered further and confirmed shortly. Special schools generally operate on the basis of 1 teacher and at least 2 SNAs per class grouping of 6 children. Further supports can be provided if required to meet the needs of the children enrolling in the school.

Parents and families looking to apply for admission to the new special school will be supported and guided by the NCSE at a local level and kept updated on developments.

My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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485. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on the special schools pilot providing delivery of in-school therapy supports to children in selected special schools, in addition to existing services being provided through children’s disability network teams (CDNTs); if there are plans to extend this scheme to other special schools such as a school in Dublin (details supplied) which has recently accepted 12 new students but has not been given any additional supports or wrap-around services from the nearest CDNT; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3171/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for her correspondence.

The provision of clinical therapy supports to children, including Speech and Language Therapy and Occupational Therapy, is the responsibility of the HSE, through Primary Care or the Children’s Network Disability Teams (CDNT).

Through the Progressing Disability Services Oversight Group, the Department of Education is working with the Department of Health, DCEDIY and the HSE to develop and strengthen more coherent structures to enable children and young people to access therapeutic supports, including those who attend special schools.

As a result of this engagement, and as you may be aware, Phase 1 of the enhanced in-school therapy supports pilot commenced in September 2024, in six schools in the Cork and Dublin. An additional ten schools were announced as part of the pilot on 8th November 2024, with phased onboarding of schools to the pilot over the course of the 2024/2025 academic year.

This integrated pilot programme will see the delivery of enhanced in-school therapy supports provided by the HSE’s Children’s Disability Network Teams and will be supported by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). This pilot supplements existing services being provided through Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNTs).

Officials from my department have been liaising with our colleagues in DCEDIY and The Health Service Executive (HSE) who have advised that all six schools in Phase 1 have filled most of the therapy posts assigned as part of the pilot. This includes three of the Cork area schools and one of the Dublin area schools in Phase 1, who have now filled all therapy posts allocated as part of the pilot.

All schools in Phase 1 of the pilot are receiving some provision of additional in-school therapy supports, with recruitment efforts ongoing by HSE and the Lead agencies to fill outstanding posts, to scale up provision to targeted levels. The recruitment campaigns for Phase 1 schools are at various stages, with some staff due to commence in post and others at a late stage in the recruitment process.

The ten schools in Phase 2 of the pilot will come on board on a phased basis in 2025, with recruitment to these schools in the early stages. While recruitment efforts are ongoing, the children in each of the sixteen special schools continue to receive supports through their local CDNT.

A detailed evaluation of the pilot programme will inform the future development of policy in both education and health provision. Any future extension of this pilot will be a matter for Government.

My Department will continue to support the NCSE and schools through the provision of the necessary funding and capital investment to ensure all children are successful in accessing an education.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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486. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will urgently review the case of a child (details supplied). [3172/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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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.

SNAs play a central role in the successful inclusion of students with additional and significant care needs into schools. They help ensure that these students can access an education to enable them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.

The NCSE has advised my department that they are aware of the circumstances of the student referred to by the Deputy. The NCSE are engaging with both the school and the parents of the student in order to ascertain what supports the student requires in order to start school next September. The NCSE will continue to support the family at local level.

SNAs are allocated to schools as a school-based resource. Principals/board of managements then deploy SNAs within schools to meet the care support requirements of the children enrolled whom SNA support has been allocated. This provides schools flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised.

At any stage where a schools feels like it has insufficient SNA support to meet the needs of its students an application can be submitted to the NCSE requesting a review of its allocation. Detailed information on the NCSE's SNA review process is published on the NCSE's . Each case is individually assessed and is based on the student profile of each school.

Following the outcome of the review, the NCSE can make a local special educational needs officer (SENO) available to the school to discuss their current deployment of SNA supports in the school and to put these supports to the best advantage of the students. NCSE in-school support is also available to schools to offer further guidance and support.

My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.