Written answers
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Department of Education and Skills
Special Educational Needs
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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1022. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills whether additional special education teaching hours will be provided for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41014/25]
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.
Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an appropriate education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for me, my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
The allocations of special education teaching posts for the 2025/26 year were published on 11 February and all schools received an email notification from the NCSE of their allocation.
For the 2025/26 school year close to 15,000 special education teachers have been allocated to schools to support these children and young people.
In relation to the school mentioned, I would like to confirm that when the 2025/26 Special Education Teaching (SET) allocations were issued they received an increase of 2.5 hours. In addition, the school submitted a request for a review of their SET Allocation to the NCSE. The NCSE reviewed and examined the information provided by the school in relation to the learning needs of the schools’ pupils. My department does not have any role in this review process.
Following the review by the NCSE, the NCSE recommended to the Department that the school should receive an additional 2.5 hours of SET resources.
This brought the schools allocation for 2025/26 school year to 17.5 SET hours per week which is an increase of 40% on their 2024/25 allocation.
The school may request directly from the NCSE, Advisor support to aid them in the deployment of their allocated SET resources to support the learning needs of their pupils. This request can be made through the NCSE school portal.
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.
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