Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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1255. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the special educational accommodations, such as rest facilities, flexible scheduling or assisted learning support that have been implemented in schools for students diagnosed with narcolepsy post-pandemrix vaccination; whether additional funding is planned to support these students; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43822/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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This Government is fully committed to supporting all children including those with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. Children with special educational needs includes those children with medical needs such as referenced by the Deputy and given that medical issues impact children in different ways during their educational journey, my Department provides a range of supports to schools to allow them to meet the individual needs of pupils enrolled in their schools.

Supports include access to special education teaching, special needs assistants, assistive technology and training and, with access to a broad range of measures, schools are best placed to address any needs arising from medical issues of individual students. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the national agency with responsibility for ensuring students with special educational needs are supported in order to achieve their educational goals and reach their full potential. Schools who have students with medical concerns can engage directly with the NCSE who provide advice, support, training and where appropriate additional resources if required to support the individual needs of pupils in schools.

With funding of almost €2.9bn spent annually on special education, to include 15,000 special education teachers and over 23,000 special needs assistants, as an example of the scale of supports in the school system, 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.