Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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49. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59759/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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My department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) have begun preparatory work in relation to planning for the provision of further new special class and special school places for the 2026/27 school year and beyond.

As you are aware parents were asked to notify the NCSE of their requirement for a special class for the 2026/27 school year by 1 October 2025. The NCSE is now collating and assessing the information gathered through this notification process. Once complete the NCSE will be in a position to engage with schools across the country to open new special classes.

In order to ensure new special classes can open as quickly as possible the NCSE prioritise working with medium and larger primary schools who do not already have a special class and have available accommodation to accommodate new special class. This approach maximises the use of existing space which can be reconfigured efficiently while also ensuring that new provision continues to be established. It also increases number of schools with special classes providing parents with greater choice and reducing the distances that some children are travelling to access a special class place.

However, as in other years where schools have no available accommodation, particularly at post-primary level and there is known demand in a local area, my department will continue to provide additional classroom accommodation to provide necessary places.

The NCSE will also have due regard to any vacant places in existing special classes in an area and any places that will be become available through the normal movement of children leaving primary or post-primary school.

The school referred to by the Deputy already has 3 special classes and any school willing to open further new special classes is to be commended.

The NCSE will assess what additional provision is required in local areas and what schools have capacity to accommodate required provision. My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements remain available for children with special educational needs.

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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50. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps being taken to address over 800 vacancies in special education classes, as reported by the NCSE; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59581/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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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 vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special class and special school places are provided. This is in keeping with policy on an inclusive education, which promotes that children will be supported to receive an education in the most inclusive setting possible.

Close to 4, 000 places were made available for the 2025/26 school year. This was made up of 2,700 new places and 1,200 places through the natural movement of students from primary to post-primary or out of education.

The NCSE has advised my department just under 3,300 valid notifications were received by mid-February via their new parent notify service. While parents were asked to notify the NCSE by mid-February the NCSE received further notifications after this date. The NCSE advise that a number of vacancies remain in every county in the country. These are generally vacancies of one or two places in established classes and may already have been considered for filling by the NCSE as a result of forward planning for the next school year.

The NCSE is currently collating and assessing the information gathered through this parent's notify process for the 2026/27 school year, once complete the NCSE will be in a position to engage with schools across the country to open new special classes. It is the aim of the NCSE to sanction the majority of new special classes by 31 December 2025. This will also allow for work to progress on expanding special school capacity in certain areas.

The NCSE will consider vacant places in existing special classes in an area and any places that will become available through the normal movement of children leaving primary or post-primary school. These factors all form part of the planning process when determining where new special classes are best placed to meet local demand.

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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51. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans for a new second-level special school in the Youghal school planning area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59679/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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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 vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special class and special school places are provided. This is in keeping with policy on an inclusive education, which promotes that children will be supported to receive an education in the most inclusive setting possible.

There continues to be an increasing need to provide additional special school places to support children with complex needs. To meet this need, sixteen new special schools have been established in recent years, and capacity has been expanded in a number of others. Five of these were established for the 2025/26 school year in counties, Cork, Dublin (2), Monaghan and Tipperary.

The new special schools established over recent years have focused on providing additional places in our largest urban areas – Dublin and Cork. The department and NCSE have already begun planning in relation to further expanding special school capacity for the 2026/27 school year. It is estimated that a further 300 new special school places may be required each year for the coming years.

When looking to provide additional capacity the department’s preferred option is to increase provision in existing special schools if possible. Where this is not possible in a region, the department and NCSE will consider the need to establish a new special school.

In planning for increased special school places, my department and the NCSE review all of the available data on the growing need for special school places across the country. This involves a detailed analysis of enrolment trends and the potential for existing special schools in a region to expand.

Part of the forward planning process as to where new classes, schools or expansion is required looks at how far students are travelling to access an education appropriate to their needs. This is an important factor which has been incorporated into the decision-making process. Consideration is also given to the information the NCSE hold at local level on the number of children seeking a special school place in a region.

In order to support the NCSE and forward planning my department published Circular 0039/2025. This circular informs school management and patrons of measures introduced to support forward planning and reiterates the need for parents to inform the NCSE that they are seeking a special educational placement for their child. An earlier date of 1 October was set for parents to do so.

Once the NCSE has fully collated and assessed this information, the NCSE will be in a position to engage with schools across the country to open new special classes. The NCSE will also have due regard to any vacant places in existing special classes in an area and any places that will become available through the normal movement of children leaving primary or post-primary school.

My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements remain available for children with special educational needs and will continue to review and monitor the situation in County Cork and indeed nationwide as to where new special schools are required.