Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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336. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 280 of 10 November 2025, the reason for the delay in preparing a large scale recruitment campaign for the education therapy support service by the National Council for Special Education; the contingency plan if recruitment is unsuccessful; the interim supports that will be put in place for children later in the 2025-2026 school year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [67251/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The Education Therapy Support Service (ETSS) was established in June 2024 within the NCSE, through the permanent sanctioning of 39 therapist positions. Subsequently in June 2025, the 2025 Education Plan, confirmed government’s commitment to and approval of the establishment of the Education Therapy Service (ETS).

The development and delivery of the ETS will be informed by detailed engagement, which is on-going, with our colleagues in the HSE and stakeholders and will build on the National Council for Special Educations’ (NCSE) work previously completed through the Educational Therapy Support Service (ETSS) and the School Inclusion Model. The ETS is an additional support for children and young people in their school environment. It is not a replacement for existing children’s services from which provision will continue.

As referenced in Parliamentary Question No. 280 of 10 November 2025, it is anticipated that the ETS will commence in 45 special schools at a later stage in the 2025/26 school year and will be supported by a panel of 90 therapists comprising of senior and staff grade. The NCSE is currently finalising a large-scale recruitment campaign which is anticipated to go live in the coming weeks. Further roll out of the service will occur on a phased basis over the 2026/2027 schools year.

In addition to the ETS, the ETSS, which will be subsumed into the ETS, provides two strands of support, Regional Therapy and Sustained In-School Therapy to both mainstream and special schools.

Sustained in-school support (SIT) is provided to schools for a defined period of 18-24 months in line with the School Inclusion Model. 22 schools in the Eastern region are currently availing of this service and 28 schools in the Western region will receive support under SIT from September 25.

Regional therapy support provides Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) with follow on/implementation support by NCSE therapists. The focus of this support is to build the capacity of schools and to embed the learning from TPL into their teaching practice, through In-school coaching and co-facilitation of interventions, strategies and resources, with a focus on whole school (Tier 1) and targeted/school support levels (Tier 2) of a multitiered system of support. Regional Therapy seminars are available nationally for the 2025/2026 school year.

My Department and the National Council for Special Education (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.