Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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538. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when she expects SNA staffing allocations for the 2025-2026 primary school year to be announced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29410/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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By the end of the year there will be over 20,800 special educational teachers and 23,400 special needs assistants (SNAs) in our mainstream classes, special classes and special schools. This will mean we will have over 44,000 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 (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 its website.

The circular regarding SNA allocations was published on the Department's website on 28 May 2025.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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539. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will assign a new roll number regime to special schools in order to differentiate them from primary and secondary schools, since the current model classifies them as primary schools, even though many of them offer a secondary school curriculum; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29411/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs.

The current designation of special schools as primary schools is one of a range of additional challenges facing our special schools.

My Department has been actively engaging with the representative managerial bodies, to address these additional challenges.

A number of new measures to support special schools with a particular focus on post-primary provision have recently been introduced.

All special schools now benefit from the appointment of administrative deputy principals. These posts are making a real difference in schools in terms of assisting with leadership and management functions and supporting learning, parental and community engagement.

An additional allocation of 100 post-primary teaching posts has also been provided to special schools. I am very conscious that our special schools provide an education for students with the most complex needs, aged from 4 to 18 years of age. These posts allow schools to deliver a greater range of the national curriculum subjects and to improve student progression and transition.

My Department is also working closely with the NCSE to further support special schools in relation to a range of issues relating to administration, curriculum and training. Two new specialist leads have been appointed with a specific remit for education and curriculum in special schools and in post-primary education and curriculum.

The 2015 Junior Cycle Framework incorporates a modernised curriculum across all subjects and a balanced range of assessment modes, that more appropriately addresses the needs of students. It provides students with learning opportunities that strike a better balance between learning knowledge and developing a wide range of skills and thinking abilities.

During the three years of Junior Cycle, the majority of students will learn through a number of subjects or a combination of subjects and short courses that are broadly aligned with Level 3 of the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ). For a small number of students with significant special educational needs Priority Learning Units (PLUs) that are broadly aligned with Level 2 or Level 1 of the NFQ will form the majority or entirety of their Junior Cycle.

As part of Senior Cycle Redevelopment, a Senior Cycle Level 1 and 2 Programme Statement, curriculum areas and modules have been published. These provide, for the first time, a Senior Cycle programme designed for students with specific special educational needs. All special schools can now offer the new Senior Cycle programmes and avail of the associated support and training that are being offered to all schools.

At this time there is currently no plan to allocate special schools new role numbers.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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540. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide any information about the application of a person (details supplied) for a special education class at the school and the subsequent refusal of the special education class at the location. [29414/25]

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 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: .