Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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90. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on the forward planning and provision of special class and special school places for September 2026. [59718/25]

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.

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.

The earlier date will allow for 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.

The NCSE will have a clear picture of the local demand for special class 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 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.

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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91. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the engagements her Department has had with special schools in the Cork area regarding the numbers of suspensions and expulsions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59680/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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Special schools support children and young people aged between 4 and 18 years of age with the most complex special educational needs and ensure positive links are established and fostered between the home, school and other agencies for these students.

There are 17 special schools supporting approximately 1,100 students in County Cork that are funded, resourced, and supported by the Department of Education and Youth and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

My department actively engages with special schools, boards of management, patrons, the national representative bodies and others to address challenges for special schools as they arise. Our shared ambition is to ensure that the students enrolled are supported to reach their full potential and achieve their educational goals.

Advice and guidance is available on an ongoing basis to school staff, school management and school patrons. This is provided through the various teams and agents working with schools including the NCSE, the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) and the department's Inspectorate and reflects this government’s commitment to ensure that children and young people with the most significant needs are prioritised for support.

The department has published?guidelines on managing behaviours of concern and crisis situations in schools, developed through extensive consultation and trialled in special schools.

In addition, under the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, all schools are required to have in place a code of behaviour that accords with Developing a Code of Behaviour: Guidelines for Schools, published by Tusla's Education Support Service (TESS). Updated guidelines are nearing completion and the new guidelines will exist in tandem with the evolving education landscape strongly focused on supporting and sustaining positive student behaviours in school with student wellbeing, progress and development at its heart. It is expected that the guidelines will be published before the end of the year.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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92. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress to date in developing a model for smaller schools, that due to their size do not meet the threshold of six pupils with special needs in order to have a special class sanctioned; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59585/25]

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. Schools are provided additional resources such as special education teachers and special need assistants (SNAs) in order achieve this.

However, this government is also committed to increasing the numbers of specialist provision nationwide. As there continues to be a significant number of medium and larger primary schools with no special class, my department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) will continue to prioritise these schools who 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 the 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.

The NCSE must also 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.

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.

The NCSE is currently collating and assessing the information gathered through this parent's notify process, 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 actively encourage expressions of interest from schools to open special classes, and I appreciate and commend the efforts taken by boards of management in doing so. However, it is not always possible to open a special class in every school that expresses an interest.

Budget 2026 has provided funding for 3,000 new special educational places within our education system and the NCSE is examining where this provision is best placed for the 2026/27 school year.

Once the NCSE has fully collated and assessed all information available to them, the NCSE will be in a position to engage with schools across the country to open new special classes.

A recent exercise conducted by the NCSE shows almost 800 vacant and available special class places in schools around the country at the start of this school year. It will be important to work with parents and schools at local level to ensure that these places can be filled for the next school year 2026/2027.

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 Cavan and indeed nationwide as to where new special schools are required.