Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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801. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if additional supports will be provided for students with special educational needs in Cork city schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59029/25]

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.

It is my department’s policy, in accordance with the principles of inclusive education, that students with additional learning needs are supported in mainstream classes along with their peers, with additional supports provided as necessary.

The department provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools and students with special educational needs in order to ensure that wherever a child is enrolled, they will have access to an appropriate education. Schools with children special education needs enrolled can make contact with their local special educational needs organiser (SENO) who can provide advice and support on all available special education supports.

In order to support the NCSE and the forward planning of specialist provision 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.

The earlier date will allow for the earlier sanctioning of classes for the 2026/27 school year, and it is the aim of the NCSE to sanction the majority of new special classes by 31 December 2025. It will also allow for work to progress on expanding special school capacity in certain areas.

The NCSE will have a clear picture of the local demand for special class and special school places for the 2026/2027 school year after they review and assess all of the information which has been provided through the parents' notification process which closed on 1 October.

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 be become available through the normal movement of children leaving primary or post-primary school.

I would like to stress that the NCSE will continue to support all children made known to them after this date also, however, it is important for planning purposes that we set an earlier timeframe for which the NCSE has as much local knowledge and detail as possible in order to plan what new provision is required.

Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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803. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update on the provision of special education classes in Mallow schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59031/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the statutory body responsible for the provision of special education and allocating supports for children with special educational needs.

Through the accelerated provision of additional special class and special school places over recent years, there are now over 30,000 students enrolled in special classes and special schools. 2,700 new places were created for the 2025/26 school year and these, together with the over 1,200 existing places due to students moving on from primary schools and post-primary schools, has meant that close to 4,000 specialist places were made available nationwide for the 2025/26 school year.

Of the 407 new special classes sanctioned for the 2025/26 school year 54 are in County Cork, 37 at primary and 17 at post-primary level. This brings to 617 the number of special classes currently in operation in the county. There are also 16 special schools in County Cork with approximately 1,060 students enrolled. One of the five new special schools for the 2025/26 school year has opened in North Cork also.

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.

This notification process will provide the NCSE with valuable information as to which children will continue to require a special class as they progress to post-primary level and details on students who require a place for the first time.

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.

It is envisioned that the majority of new special classes for the 2026/27 school year will be sanctioned by 31 December 2025. My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements remain available in every county.