Written answers
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Department of Education and Skills
Special Educational Needs
Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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528. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools who were asked but declined to open special classes in their schools, per county, in tabular form. [29305/25]
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 is, in the first instance, the primary body responsible for the matter the Deputy has raised. I have forwarded this issue to them for their attention and direct reply.
Deputies are also welcome to raise such queries with the NCSE directly through their dedicated Oireachtas query line at oireachtasqueries@ncse.ie.
Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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529. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children who were offered places in special classes or schools in September 2024 but have not commenced school in September 2024, per county, in tabular form. [29306/25]
Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs.
Just over 400 new special classes and 300 additional special school places were provided for the 2024/2025 school year. As a few of these new special classes were sanctioned later during the summer period after intensive engagement with some schools, it meant that some children in a small number of cases in Dublin did not receive offers of admission and attend a new special class until later in September 2024. The NCSE worked closely to support these families and schools to put in place contingency arrangements at the start of the school year.
In addition, a number of students enrolled in Danú Special School have been supported with contingency arrangements, including remaining in their current school placement during this school year pending the provision of additional accommodation and completion of significant works. These works are now progressing and these students are expected to attend the special school from the start of the new school year.
Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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530. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of special classes that have opened per start of the academic school year, per county, in each of the years 2022 to 2025, in tabular form. [29307/25]
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 below table provides a breakdown of the number of special classes available in each county for the requested school years. The increase from year to year represents the number of new special classes provided in that county for each year in turn.
Special Classes by County 2022 - 2025
| County | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | 2025/26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlow | 45 | 53 | 59 | 66 |
| Cavan | 47 | 52 | 59 | 68 |
| Clare | 62 | 68 | 76 | 83 |
| Cork | 420 | 496 | 563 | 616 |
| Donegal | 97 | 115 | 127 | 132 |
| Dublin | 474 | 534 | 602 | 700 |
| Galway | 135 | 149 | 169 | 182 |
| Kerry | 81 | 90 | 98 | 116 |
| Kildare | 105 | 116 | 131 | 146 |
| Kilkenny | 43 | 51 | 62 | 71 |
| Laois | 52 | 60 | 81 | 91 |
| Leitrim | 21 | 27 | 31 | 34 |
| Limerick | 114 | 128 | 146 | 166 |
| Longford | 33 | 39 | 47 | 48 |
| Louth | 70 | 88 | 98 | 115 |
| Mayo | 55 | 65 | 72 | 76 |
| Meath | 113 | 132 | 156 | 178 |
| Monaghan | 39 | 42 | 54 | 60 |
| Offaly | 97 | 104 | 108 | 111 |
| Roscommon | 34 | 41 | 48 | 55 |
| Sligo | 25 | 29 | 32 | 36 |
| Tipperary | 106 | 120 | 138 | 155 |
| Waterford | 51 | 58 | 70 | 86 |
| Westmeath | 53 | 59 | 69 | 80 |
| Wexford | 87 | 101 | 119 | 131 |
| Wicklow | 90 | 104 | 120 | 132 |
| Total | 2,549 | 2,921 | 3,335 | 3,734 |
Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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531. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of special needs assistants, per school and per postcode in Dublin, in each of the years 2020 to 2025, in tabular form. [29308/25]
Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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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 publish a list of SNA allocations each school year. For ease of reference these allocations are broken down by school type and county and are available on the NCSE's website. ().
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