Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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416. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to consider allocating a home school community liaison teacher for all special schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65908/25]

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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417. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of allocating a home school community liaison teacher for all special schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65909/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 416 and 417 together.

The Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) scheme is one of the key supports provided by my Department as part of the overall DEIS programme. It is managed by Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) and it seeks to promote partnership between parents, teachers and community family support services, with a view to supporting improved attendance, participation and retention.

All DEIS urban primary schools and all DEIS post-primary schools are included in the HSCL scheme, which currently serves 682 DEIS schools, catering for approximately 207,000 children and young people. The scheme is delivered by 528 full-time HSCL coordinators assigned to HSCL duties either in individual schools or in clusters of schools.

HSCL coordinators are released from teaching duties, for a maximum of five years, in order to work intensively with and support parents/guardians. The overarching goal of the HSCL coordinator is to improve educational outcomes for children through their work with the key adults in the child’s life. Over €36 million is spent annually on the pay costs of HSCL coordinators.

Budget 2026 allocates an additional €16 million to the DEIS programme in 2026, rising to €48 million in 2027, to support the implementation of the new DEIS Strategy and introduce the DEIS Plus scheme, which will commence in 2026.

In addition to the above, a pilot project to support Traveller and Roma pupils, is in operation in 4 locations with 1 HSCL coordinator assigned in each location and a further 10 HSCL coordinators support attendance, participation and retention among Traveller and Roma students, across 14 non-DEIS post-primary schools.

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.

All special schools now benefit from the appointment of administrative deputy principals. These posts are making a real difference in schools in terms of assisting with leadership and management functions and supporting learning, parental and community engagement.? The allocation of 100 post-primary teaching posts to ensure a greater range of the national curriculum subjects can be taught to improve student progression and transition.

At the end of the 2024/25 school year there were 3,336 special classes in mainstream schools and 134 special schools in operation. The 134 special schools include 124 special schools supported by the National Council for Special Education, 7 hospital schools and 3 schools attached to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services units. Allocating a HSCL coordinator to all 134 special schools would cost in the region of €10.2 million per annum.