Written answers
Monday, 8 September 2025
Department of Education and Skills
Special Educational Needs
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1012. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if special education needs classes for children with literacy and numeracy challenges are routinely staffed by fully qualified teachers with specific training in supporting children with additional educational needs; if not, the reason; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47043/25]
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1013. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number and proportion of teachers currently assigned to special education needs classes who hold qualifications or additional training in special education, literacy difficulties including dyslexia or numeracy interventions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47044/25]
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1014. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department has assessed whether there are sufficient numbers of teachers with specialist training in special education needs to meet the demand in primary and post-primary schools, particularly in areas of high population growth such as Fingal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47045/25]
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1015. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the professional development opportunities provided to teachers currently assigned to special education needs classes to ensure they are equipped with the skills to support children with literacy and numeracy challenges; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47046/25]
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1018. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps her Department is taking to ensure consistency across schools in how special education needs classes are delivered, including minimum standards of teacher training, supports and access to specialist resources; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47049/25]
Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1012, 1013, 1014, 1015 and 1018 together.
The Teaching Council registers teachers under the Teaching Council Act 2001-2015 and in line with the Teaching Council Registration Regulations, 2016. As set out in the Schedule of the Regulations, the Council registers teachers under five routes of registration: Route 1 - Primary, Route 2 - Post-primary, Route 3 - Further Education, Route 4 - Other and Route 5 - Student Teacher.
Central to Initial Teacher Education policy in Ireland is that all teachers teaching children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) should be qualified Primary or Post-primary teachers in the first instance.
The Teaching Council as the professional standards body for the teaching profession, sets the standards for programmes of initial teacher education (ITE) and reviews and accredits programmes provided by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the State, based on those standards. All programmes of ITE in Ireland that lead to registration must have professional accreditation from the Teaching Council. The standards for programmes of ITE, which were revised in 2020, are published in Céim: Standards for Initial Teacher Education (2020). The standards set Inclusive Education as one of the seven core elements which must unpin all aspects of the programme of ITE.
Once qualified, primary or post-primary teachers, may then apply for professional development in the area of special educational needs. Providing inclusive education to children with special educational needs is a fundamental principle of the education system. This principle is observed through Department policies, Teaching Council requirements for initial teacher education, curriculum provision and the range of supports provided to schools by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and Oide.
Teachers undertake professional learning in a range of pedagogical, curricular and educational areas. Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) provided for teachers supports the inclusion of students with special educational needs in schools.
Launched in March 2023, the Policy Statement on Initial Teacher Education looks to build on the work carried out to enhance inclusive education under Céim: Standards for Initial Teacher Education. The Teaching Council provided a report to my department in October 2024 on how the core element of inclusive education has been included in initial teacher education. This will help foster progress on other actions agreed as part of the Policy Statement on Initial Teacher Education.
Furthermore, the department has initiated a process to move towards a mandatory assessed placement period in a special education needs setting for all student teachers. As part of this, it is envisaged the Teaching Council, on behalf of the department, has conducted a survey across all Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers to gain a deeper understanding of the current landscape of school placement provision in special education settings. This will support the consideration of the Teaching Council in the development and approval of a Guidance Note for Higher Education Institutions, to be issued in Q3 2025 around an assessed student placement period in a SEN setting, working with a view to supporting initial change in September 2026.
Funded by the department, Oide works with teachers and school leaders to provide ongoing support and professional development, which promotes inclusive practices.
Oide’s Leadership team are facilitating the Caidrimh Programme. This provides professional learning and support to guide special schools in effectively collaborating, sharing, and distributing their roles and responsibilities to create a school environment that is responsive and inclusive to diverse needs.
The department provides funding for two distinct categories of post-graduate programmes for Special Education Teachers:
- Post-Graduate Diploma Programme of Teacher Professional Learning for Special Education Teachers.
- Graduate Certificate in Autism Education for teachers working with Autistic Pupils in Special Schools, Special Classes or as Special Education Teachers in mainstream Primary and Post-Primary Schools.
The department of Education funds the Teacher Fee Refund Scheme which provides funding towards the cost of course participation and examination fees on successful completion of teacher professional learning courses, including inclusion programmes.
In addition to and separate from department funded Inclusion/SEN courses, some Higher Education Institutes offer privately funded courses on these topics at post-graduate/master’s level, which participants fund themselves.
For this coming school year there will be 3,741 special classes and a further 158 Early Intervention classes in mainstream schools catering for students with autism. This will provide special class capacity for over 22,000 children with autism in our mainstream schools. This is in addition to the almost 9,500 children and young people that will be enrolled in NCSE supported special schools for this coming school year.
Finally, the NCSE provides supports to teachers and schools in a way that builds capacity, supports the inclusion of all children, including students with special educational needs, at a whole school level. The NCSE Support Service manages, co-ordinates and develops a range of supports in response to identified teacher training needs. This included Teacher Professional Learning (TPL). The NCSE continues to update current TPL courses and design new courses in response to the needs of teachers.
Detailed information on the comprehensive programme of TPL seminars on a variety of special educational needs topics is published on the NCSE .
My department does not maintain records regarding the additional qualifications of qualified teachers however, my department is committed to ensuring that all teachers, at primary and post-primary level, have the skills they need to support the diverse needs of all our children and young people in our schools. It is critical that our teachers are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to continue to deliver high quality and inclusive education.
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1016. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department is considering expanding mandatory training modules on special education, literacy and numeracy interventions in teacher training programmes, so that all teachers entering the system have a baseline specialist knowledge; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47047/25]
Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Changes to the duration and content of initial teacher education (ITE) programmes were made in response to recommendations in the National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011-2020 and were incorporated into the Teaching Council’s accreditation standards.
What was previously the ‘H-Dip’ of 18 months for primary and one-year for post-primary became the two-year PME for both, while the B.Ed. degree programme for primary teachers lengthened from three to four years. These standards were developed following extensive research and consultation to ensure the programme would effectively develop the skills, knowledge, understanding, and professional values expected of newly qualified teachers. These changes to the duration of programmes of ITE were introduced in 2014.
The reforms aimed to improve the quality of teaching and learning in schools, which is central to the educational outcomes of children. The extended duration allows for substantial periods of school placement and includes mandatory elements such as literacy, numeracy, and ICT in teaching and learning.
Under Section 38 of the Teaching Council Act, all initial teacher education programmes must be accredited by the Teaching Council for registration purposes. The Council reviewed its policy on standards for programmes of initial teacher education (ITE) and published updated standards in Céim Standards for Initial Teacher Education in October 2020.
Céim includes seven Core Elements which must underpin all aspects of programmes of ITE:
- Inclusive Education: which refers to any aspect of teachers’ learning aimed at improving their capacity to address and respond to the diversity of learners’ needs; to enable their participation in learning; and removing barriers to education through the accommodation and provision of appropriate structures and arrangements to enable each learner to achieve the maximum benefit from their attendance at school. It also includes fostering of appropriate learning environments, including digital ones, that support the development of student teachers' ability to provide for the learning needs of all pupils by utilising, for example, a universal design for learning framework.
- Global Citizenship Education: to include Education for Sustainable Development; Wellbeing (personal and community); Social Justice, Interculturalism. There should be demonstrable integration between Inclusive Education and Global Citizenship Education rooted in the principle of care for others.
- Professional Relationships and working with parents: (to include working with parents, pupils, peers, external agencies and others; preparing for school placement; the school as a learning community; and legislation relevant to the school and classroom).
- Professional identity and agency: to include support for the development of the teacher as a self-reflective autonomous professional who demonstrates the four values outlined in the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers, and the teacher as a lifelong learner (and Treoraí in relation to the continuum of teacher education.
- Creativity and Reflective practice: (to include fostering a creative mindset among student teachers, teachers as reflective practitioners; teachers as innovators; teachers as researchers; teachers' relationship with the school as a learning community and the development of Taisce to support the process of portfolio-based learning).
- Literacy and Numeracy: Programme design shall ensure that student teachers are afforded opportunities to enhance their own literacy and numeracy and are required to demonstrate an acceptable level of proficiency in literacy and numeracy. Students shall be required to demonstrate their competence in teaching and assessing literacy and numeracy appropriate to their curricular/ subject area(s).
- Digital Skills: to include Digital Literacy; the use of digital technologies to support teaching, learning and assessment for all learners; the integration of digital skills across the programme including opportunities for student teachers to explore new and emerging technologies.
All newly qualified teachers graduating with an ITE undergraduate degree (four-year programme) from 2026, and all newly qualified teachers who graduated or will graduate with a post-graduate degree (two-year programme) from 2024 will have undertaken all seven core element modules within their teacher training programmes.
I am committed to ensuring that all teachers, at primary and post-primary level, have the skills they need to support the diverse needs of all our children and young people in our schools. It is critical that our teachers are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to continue to deliver high quality and inclusive education. To that end, I wrote to the Teaching Council in March to initiate a process to move towards a mandatory assessed placement period in a special education need (SEN) setting for all student teachers, supported by appropriate modules. In seeking to gain a deeper understanding of the current landscape of school placement provision in special education settings, the Teaching Council conducted a survey across all ITE providers in April of this year. The findings from this survey are currently being analysed and the results will hopefully, support the Council’s interim decision-making in relation a two-week assessed student placement period in a SEN setting, and the potential for its long-term inclusion in the revision of Céím which are the agreed standards for the provision of Initial Teacher Education.
Subject to Council approval, a Guidance Note for HEIs will then be developed around an assessed student placement period in a SEN setting, working toward interim enactment in September 2026.
In addition, my department will continue to work with partners in education to provide a comprehensive range of in-service Teachers’ Professional Learning opportunities that allows those working at all levels of education, to access supports which will benefit all learners.
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1017. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department has examined outcomes for children in special education needs classes taught by teachers with specialist training compared to those either without such training or not qualified teachers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47048/25]
Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The Inspectorate conducts a comprehensive programme of inspection which encompasses whole-school evaluations, but also specific inspection work in special education. The outcomes of inspection work are presented to the Department in the form of composite reports which are intended to provide an overview of the quality of provision in the particular area as well as providing recommendations to the Department and to the school system more broadly.
In addition to the work of the Inspectorate, research conducted by NCSE supports the Department’s provision of funding and teaching / SNA resources for the system.
In-person engagement by NEPS with schools, supports the provision of high-quality education appropriate to the needs of learners.
To further support the Department’s planning, the Department of Education has established a new review group to consider the topic of educational outcomes for children with special education needs including the measuring, monitoring, and publishing outcomes.
This group is considering the topic of educational outcomes across a range of areas including student engagement, attainment, attendance, happiness, independence and progress for all students.
The intended outcomes of the group include the development of a framework for schools that will enable them to monitor and record outcomes in these areas.
Recognising the critical importance of evidence informed policy making, it is also intended that the framework will be sufficiently flexible such that school level information and data will be available to the Department as a means of informing policy for students with special or additional needs.
In tandem with this, the NCSE Research and Evaluation team together with Visiting Teachers of children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) students or Blind/Vision Impaired (BVI) have undertaken a study of outcomes for students who have availed of the service.
The NCSE’s Research and Evaluation team will report on school leavers who are DHH or BVI who have left school in 22/23 or 23/24, to establish their post-school pathway.
It is anticipated that initial findings from this analysis will be made available to the Department imminently for consideration and will also inform the work of the working group on educational outcomes.
Finally, the Department intends to use learning and outcomes from a range of pilot programmes currently in operation to inform the development of policy for students with special or additional needs, such as:
- The CES Transitions pilot currently taking place in 41 special schools aims to support the transition of students into adult life. This pilot is currently being externally evaluated and the findings will inform policy development in this important area.
- Towards Inclusion, funded through the Dormant Accounts Fund can be seen as the first step towards a more inclusive education system. The participating schools, a mainstream school partnering with a special school have been invited to develop projects and work together to support interaction between the students and teachers. Initial findings from the pilot have been extremely positive.
- Supporting students with exceptional abilities is a priority for this Government. The Department is currently progressing a number of initiatives including Saibhriù, a Dormant Accounts funded pilot programme that will establish clusters to examine best practice in this area.
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