Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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970. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if an assessment of need can be requested by a school as a requirement for a school place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20172/25]

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.

The NCSE through its network of local special educational needs organisers (SENOs) are available to assist and advise parents on the appropriate supports available to their child. Parents are urged to contact the NCSE if they require special education supports for their child regardless if waiting an assessment of need from the Health Service Executive (HSE). This not only ensures that the NCSE can provide support, but also ensures they are aware of the level of special education demand in local areas.

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.

My department recently issued a circular 0023/2025 which reminded schools that a new assessment was not required for children transitioning from a primary special class into post-primary special class. It is important that children progressing from primary to post-primary level can do so without the need to provide a more up-to-date recommendation.

While specialist provision is provided for children with the most complex of needs it is important to remember that the majority of children and young people with special educational needs are educated in mainstream classes with their peers. These children are supported by special education teachers and SNA to attend mainstream classes and no professional reports are required to access these supports in school.

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. Importantly, children are not required to have a diagnosis, recommendation or report to access this support.

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

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. These will be added to the 3,335 special classes already in operation nationwide. There are also 129 special schools with approximately 9,000 students enrolled. Five of these are new for the 2025/26 school year and will open for enrolment shortly.

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.