Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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518. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if Circular C30/2014 will be reviewed and updated given the document is over a decade old and given developments within special education in that time; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61561/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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My department recognises the value of the SNA role in the successful inclusion of students with special educational needs into mainstream education, special classes and special schools, ensuring that these students can access education to enable them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.

My department, through the dedicated Special Needs Assistant Workforce Development Unit, is currently developing the first Special Needs Assistant Workforce Development Plan (the plan).

The plan will encompass an understanding of the SNA role and how they and other stakeholders can be supported to provide the most effective service to children with special educational needs in our schools.

This comprehensive plan, which will introduce policy developments to bring clarity and direction to the SNA service, is structured around five key pillars:

Pillar 1 - Review and development of the SNA role

Pillar 2 - Establishment of a quality framework

Pillar 3 - Establishment of an SNA learning and development programme

Pillar 4 - Supporting SNA recruitment, retention, and diversity

Pillar 5 - Development of a communications strategy

Work on the plan has involved significant consultation with SNAs and other stakeholders including school management bodies, the unions, school staff, parents and children.

A dedicated sub-working group was established under Pillar 1 to work with key stakeholders to complete an extensive review of (www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/circulars/the-special-needs-assistant-sna-scheme-to-support-teachers-in-meeting-the-care-needs-of-some-children-with-special-educational-needs-arising-from-a-disability/) which is the current circular setting out the role of the SNA. The new circular will take into account the evolving nature of the SNA role and provide clarity around the SNA role and duties for all in the school community.

Work on the plan is now in the final stages. Further information and updates will be published on the ) (www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/publications/special-needs-assistant-sna-information-hub/) on in due course.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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519. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of school places for pupils with special educational needs in each primary school and secondary school in Dublin Mid-West, in tabular form. [61562/25]

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.

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 for the 2025/26 school year.

407 new special classes were sanctioned for the 2025/26 school year. Of these 103 are in County Dublin, 81 at primary and 22 at post-primary level. This brings to 705 the number of special classes currently in operation in the county. The locations of these classes broken by location and class designation is available on the NCSE . There are also 42 special schools in County Dublin with approximately 2,740 students enrolled. Two of these special schools were sanctioned for the 2025/26 school year and are located in Lucan and Belmayne.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is currently collating the data and information received by 1 October through the parents notify process and are engaging with schools regarding where specialist provision is best placed for the 2026/27 school year. It is envisioned that the majority of these special classes will be sanctioned by 31 December 2025.

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 as to where new specialist provision is required.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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520. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide details of the NCSE relate framework; the supports which are available to students such as classroom breaks; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61563/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) Relate programme launched in February 2025 and is a comprehensive resource to support school staff to understand and reframe behaviour. This resource is accompanied by a full breadth of training supports from the NCSE Behaviour and Wellbeing team, including in person visits, sustained support to special schools, the behaviour for learning programme for post primary schools, and in person and sustained support in special classes and primary schools.

There are weekly behaviour training opportunities throughout the year on the NCSE teacher professional learning calendar, as well as many communities of practice facilitated by NCSE advisors.

Training with hundreds of schools nationwide has been undertaken and the NCSE has provided a number of resources in which schools can engage which are available on their . It is also open to schools to contact the NCSE in relation to any training need and arrange training.

Deputies are also welcome to raise queries in relation to the NCSE Relate framework directly through the NCSE dedicated Oireachtas query line at .

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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521. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to increase funding for the provision of SNAs to ensure all children and young people who require assistance can access it; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61564/25]

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.

In 2026, over €3 billion will be spent supporting children with special educational needs. It will ensure that specialist capacity continues to grow by providing 3,000 specialist places. The majority of these places will be available in special classes within mainstream schools. It will increase our special educational posts by 860 special education teacher and over 1,700 special needs assistant (SNA) posts. This will mean we will have over 46,500 professionals dedicated to supporting students with special educational needs in our schools. This is one of the highest annual increases in posts to date and is a firm reminder of this government’s commitment to supporting students with special educational needs.

Budget 2026 has also afforded a number of new initiatives such as funding for the roll out of the Education Therapy Service (ETS), the introduction of extra SET hours for post-primary schools to support coordination and transition efforts and indeed a special school package to support the unique challenges these schools face.

The Department of Education and Youth and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) will also, this year, look at the profile of existing special schools. This work will ensure children with complex educational needs can apply to their local special school and not have to travel long distances to access an appropriate education.

The NCSE has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs, including the allocation of SNAs. The NCSE has advised my department that all schools have been informed of their SNA allocation for the 2025/26 school year. The NCSE have published the SNA allocations on their .

It is open to any school which feels like it has insufficient SNA support to meet the needs of its students to submit to the NCSE a request seeking a review of its allocation. Detailed information on the NCSE's SNA review process is published on the NCSE's .

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.