Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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637. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the reduction in special education allocation hours for a school (details supplied) will be reviewed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11388/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs.

By the end of the year there will be over 20,800 special educational teachers and 23,400 SNAs in our mainstream classes, special classes and special schools. This will mean we will have over 44,200 teachers and SNAs working in our education system committed to supporting and nurturing children with special educational needs, enabling them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.

Allocations of special education teaching posts for the next school year have recently been provided to schools and SNA allocations will be confirmed by the NCSE to schools in quarter two this year.

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 as identified through the Continuum of Support framework.

The allocations of special education teaching posts for the next school year were published on 11 February and all schools received an email notification from the NCSE of their allocation.

For the 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. This data is sourced from within the education sector to ensure it is validated and assured. The only external data used is the Pobal HP Deprivation Index which is used by Irish government departments for identification of disadvantage.

The 2025/26 school year will see almost 86% of schools either increase their allocation of hours or retain their previous 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.

In relation to the school in question, the change in the schools SET allocation is directly related to a reduction of over 19% in enrolment in the last school year.

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.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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638. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children without a special school place in Cork for the 2025-2026 school year. [11406/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. 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 five years, eleven 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 over 3,300. Five new special schools are also being established and capacity is being expanded in other special schools. One of these new special schools is being established in the North Cork City area for the coming 2025/2026 school year. My Department and the NCSE are also working with school patron bodies to provide additional special school places in other special schools in Cork also. Further details on this will be confirmed shortly.

Of the 400 new special classes places provided for in Budget 2025, the NCSE has advised that 309 of these classes have already been sanctioned for the 2025/26 school year. Of these 50 are in County Cork, 32 at primary and 18 at post primary level.

This will add to the 563 special classes currently in operation in the county. There are also 16 special schools in Cork with approximately 1,061 students enrolled.

In County Cork and indeed nationwide, the NCSE continue to engage intensely with schools and school patron bodies to confirm further classes. As the NCSE progress the sanctioning of the remaining special classes they will inform parents.

Where new special classes have been sanctioned, I would urge schools to progress the admission of students as soon as possible to ensure that the NCSE can continue to evaluate demand in local areas, sanction classes as required and assist parents in securing a school place.

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 SENO's directly using the contact details available on the NCSE website.

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.