Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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195. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the additional needs allocation for a school (details supplied); if her attention has been drawn to the concerns of school management in relation to the potential reduction in this allocation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6837/25]

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. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs.

The Special Education Teaching (SET) Allocation Model is a standardised allocation model that provides schools with additional teaching hours to support the teaching needs of students in mainstream classes.

When the model was introduced, it replaced a diagnosis led model with one based on need. This ensures the allocation supports all children that require a level of additional teaching support.

For 2025/26 school year close to 15,000 special education teachers have been allocated to schools to support these children and young people.

The allocation model uses a variety of statistical data to complete allocations. This data includes, enrolment data, data on educational needs profiles (literacy and numeracy) and data on educational disadvantage.

The 2025/26 school year will see almost 86% of schools either increase their allocation of hours or retain their previous allocation. The school referred to by the Deputy is one of the schools retaining their allocation. Of schools who will see a reduction this is driven by demographic change in the geographic area and a reduction of enrolments in the school. The vast majority of these schools will see a reduction of under five hours.

However, unique circumstances may arise in schools that may be difficult to reflect in a standardised method. Therefore, any school who has any concerns on their allocation can engage with the NCSE. The NCSE will provide support to schools as required and will examine if the allocation is sufficient to meet the identified needs of all children and young people enrolled.

Where the NCSE identifies the need for additional resources, my department will immediately approve the identified increase so that it is available to the school ahead of the 2025/26 school year.

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.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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196. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the plans to provide a special class in a school (details supplied); when a special class will be provided; and the plans to provide a special education teacher in the school. [6843/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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Enabling children with special educational needs to receive a befitting education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority 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.

My department's Planning and Building Unit advise that the school referred to was approved under the Additional Schools Accommodation (ASA) Scheme in October 2023 for two special education classrooms. The project has been devolved for delivery to the school authority and it has appointed a design team to progress the project. This project is currently at Stage one pending the submission of a Stage one report and will be required to go through further stages and assessment for planning and tendering prior to the project being approved to construction.

Each new special class at primary level is allocated 1 teacher and 2 SNAs. The recruitment and appointment of teachers for teaching positions is managed by individual school authorities. There are over 3,700 individual school authorities, responsible for this process, including boards of management at primary and post-primary schools, as well as Education and Training Boards (ETBs).

The NCSE has completed over 1,000 school planning visits in recent months. These planning visits have been key to the NCSE in determining what new provision can be provided. The NCSE continue to assess what additional provision is required in local areas and what schools have capacity to accommodate required provision. As the NCSE progress the sanctioning of new special classes over the coming weeks they will advise parents in turn on the location of new special classes for the 2025/26 school year.

Parents seeking special class placements for their children are advised to contact the NCSE locally for planning purposes. Local 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.

My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements remain available for children with special educational needs.