Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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754. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she or her Department is aware of a proposal for a post-primary special class catering to 'SEN Betweeners' in Youghal; if she has been in touch with the parents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18601/25]

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.

I had the privilege of meeting with some of the parents of the group advocating for special classes for these young people recently, to discuss this matter and other issues.

As you are aware special classes are established under a particular designation of student need, e.g., Mild/Moderate/Severe to Profound Learning Disability or for particular conditions e.g. Autism or Deaf/Hard of Hearing. Enrolment into these classes is closely linked to its designation. This ensures that these classes continue to meet the needs of the students for which they were intended and for this reason, a diagnosis and/or professional report is required in order for students to be enrolled.

It is important to remember that this specialist provision is provided for children with the most complex of needs. The majority of children and young people with special educational needs are educated in mainstream classes with their peers. In working to develop a more inclusive education system, we want to support as many students as possible to attend their local mainstream schools. This means that children are not required to travel long distances to attend special schools or classes and can attend school in their local communities.

15,000 special education teachers have been provided to enable schools to achieve this. In practical terms this means schools get a substantial additional teaching allocation to support children with special education needs who are in mainstream classes.

Allocations of special education teaching (SET) posts for the next school year have recently been provided to schools and SNA allocations will be confirmed by the NCSE to schools in the coming weeks. The NCSE also publish SET and SNA allocations on their website.

Of the 400 new special classes places provided for in Budget 2025, the NCSE has advised that 399 of these classes have already been sanctioned for the 2025/26 school year. Of these 53 are in County Cork, 35 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 1,060 students enrolled. One of the five new special schools for the 2025/26 school year will open in North Cork also. This school will open for enrolment shortly.

My Department wrote to all post-primary schools in 2022 asking them to begin to prepare to provide at least 4 special classes each on average. It is important that children progressing from primary special classes can access a post-primary special class place if required in their local area.

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.