Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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668. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the timeline for the roll out of supportive therapies art, drama, equine therapies, wellbeing supports and nurture room grants to name some to mainstream primary and secondary schools, notwithstanding the prioritisation of special schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30423/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The policy of the Department of Education is to allocate supports to recognised schools to cater for the needs of pupils with special educational needs in an educational context. The provision of health-related supports is the responsibility of the HSE, and matters in relation to the provision of health-related services for children with disabilities, including physical and sensory therapy supports should therefore be directed to that body or to the Department of Health.

In general, schools supporting pupils with special educational needs can draw on a range of interventions, and it is a matter for schools to determine the approach or mix of approaches which they will use in each individual case.

The approach towards each child's education would be based on the individual educational needs of the child and would have regard to the child's individual education plan and supporting professional reports.

My department will continue to support schools through the provision of the necessary funding and capital investment to ensure all children are successful in accessing an education.

Furthermore, it is my intention to prioritise the Programme for Government commitment to introduce a National Therapy Service in education, commencing in special schools and subsequently extending to schools with special classes and mainstream provision. This service will be delivered by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), building on the NCSE’s work previously completed through the Educational Therapy Support Service (ETSS).

It is intended that the National Therapy Service will commence in some special schools at a later stage in the 2025/26 school year. Further roll out of the service will occur on a phased basis with a wider roll-out commencing in the 2026/27 school year. Initially the service will include the disciplines of Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy, over time further disciplines such as physiotherapy may be included.

The Education Therapy Support Service arose from the clearly identified need for wraparound support in schools in the areas of Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language therapy.

Based on this need we focused on the provision of Speech and Language and Occupational Therapy supports in schools.

The promotion of wellbeing is central to the Department of Education mission to enable children and young people to achieve their full potential and is set out in its Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice. Furthermore, the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot sees direct counselling supports being provided to selected primary schools and also, a number of Education Wellbeing Practitioners working under the direction and supervision of lead NEPS psychologists in schools.