Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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531. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to detail the investment of SEN classes across Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown over the past five years, specifically to detail the supports that now exist in those primary schools for children with additional needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17377/25]

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.

Through the accelerated provision of additional special class and special school places over recent years, there are now just over 28,000 students enrolled in special classes and special schools. Budget 2025 provides for an additional 2,700 specialist places, made up of 400 new special class and 300 additional special school places. On top of this, there will be over 1,000 places available through the normal annual movement of students progressing from primary to post-primary and students graduating from post-primary or special schools. There also remains special class vacancies in some areas of the country.

Of the 400 new special classes places provided for in Budget 2025, the NCSE has advised that 375 of these classes have already been sanctioned for the 2025/26 school year. Of these 77 are in Dublin, 59 at primary and 18 at post primary level. This will add to the 602 special classes already sanctioned in Dublin, 455 in primary and 147 at post-primary level.

There are also 40 special schools in Dublin with approximately 2,600 students enrolled. Two of the five new special schools for the 2025/26 school year will open in Lucan and Belmayne also. These schools will open for enrolment shortly.

A complete list of special classes, broken by location and class designation, is available on the NCSE website. The table below shows provision sanctioned due to confirmed demand in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown over the school years 2020/21 to 2024/25.

My department has requested the NCSE to work closely with schools and families to ensure that these children access places as quickly as possible. My department has also written to all schools opening new special classes asking them to commence their admission processes as quickly as possible.

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