Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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326. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to respond to concerns that a special school in Blackrock (details supplied) will be reducing services or integrating with any other schools. [31345/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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300 new special school places are being provided for the coming 2025/2026 school year. 5 new special schools are being established in addition to the 11 new special schools opened over the last few years. Special school capacity is also being expanded across a number of special schools.

It’s important to state that it is not the intention to exclude children who require a special school place from accessing certain special school settings, but instead to work to ensure children with complex educational needs can apply to their local special school. Along with providing additional special school capacity, my department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) also consider that it is necessary to look at the profile of our existing special schools. This is because the system as currently configured means that many children cannot apply for admission to their local special school simply because they don’t meet the narrow designation of that special school.

There are approximately 30 of our 129 special schools that were originally designated as schools for children with a Mild General Learning Disability (MGLD). The establishment of these special schools predated the significant expansion in the range of supports offered in mainstream schools through additional special education teaching and special needs assistant resources and through the rapid expansion in special class provision.

It is noted that many of the children enrolling in MGLD special school do so around the transition point from primary to post-primary. The new Senior Cycle Level 1 and Level 2 programme offers a new curriculum pathway for students with special educational needs at post-primary level now also.

The NCSE report that over half of these MGLD special schools have since diversified to allow children with more complex needs in their communities who require a special school setting enrol in their local special school.

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.