Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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303. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to outline the capacity and availability of places in special schools, particularly in County Mayo; and the steps being taken to increase the number of places available for children with additional needs. [50396/26]

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 students with special educational needs.

The enrolment figures for special schools are available on the Department’s website at www.gov.ie.

There continues to be an increasing need to provide additional special school places to support students with complex needs. The new special schools established over recent years have focused on providing additional places in our largest urban areas – Dublin and Cork.

When looking to provide additional capacity the department’s preferred option is to increase provision in existing special schools if possible. Where this is not possible in a region, the department and NCSE will consider the need to establish a new special school.

In planning for increased special school places, my department and the NCSE review all of the available data on the growing need for special school places across the country. This involves a detailed analysis of enrolment trends and the potential for existing special schools in a region to expand.

Part of the forward planning process as to where new classes, schools or expansion is required looks at how far students are travelling to access an education that meets their needs. This is an important factor which has been incorporated into the decision-making process. Consideration is also given to the information the NCSE hold at local level on the number of children and young people seeking a special school place in a region.

Four new special schools were recently announced by Ministers Naughton and Moynihan to be established in Balbriggan, CityWest, Bray and Monasterevin. Dedicated working groups including the Department, the NCSE and relevant patron body continue to meet to support the establishment of the new special schools. The NCSE will continue to advise parents at local level on developments. This brings to twenty the number of new special schools established in recent years, and capacity has been expanded in a number of others.

The NCSE remains available to provide advice and support to all families seeking specialist placement.

My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements remain available for students with special educational needs and will continue to review and monitor the situation nationwide as to where new special schools are required.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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304. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of places available in special schools in County Mayo, including projected intake for September 2026 and September 2027; the number of applications that have been received for these places; the number of children without a confirmed placement for the upcoming academic year; and the measures being taken to expand capacity where demand exceeds supply. [50397/26]

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 students with special educational needs.

The NCSE is, in the first instance, the primary body responsible for the matter the Deputy has raised. I will arrange for your query to be forwarded to the NCSE for their attention and direct reply. Deputies are also welcome to raise such queries with the NCSE directly through their dedicated Oireachtas email address.

My department and the NCSE continue to work closely with school patron bodies, school management bodies and schools to confirm new special classes for the next school year 2026/2027. The NCSE began sanctioning new special classes in January of this year, which is several months earlier than last year.

In addition, I recently announced inclusive special classes as part of a new approach to supporting students with additional needs. This is one of many ways my department is actively engaging to meet the increased demand.

580 new special classes have been sanctioned to date, including 64 inclusive special classes. Of the 580 new special classes, 378 are being established in primary schools and 202 in post-primary schools. New special classes are being established in every county with 15 new special classes confirmed for Mayo. This brings the total number of special classes sanctioned to date to over 4,300. Further new special classes may be confirmed in the coming weeks, if required.

In order to ensure new special classes can open as quickly as possible the NCSE prioritise working with medium and larger primary schools who do not already have a special class and 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 students are travelling to access a special class place.

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 achieve their full potential.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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305. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to outline the early intervention supports being provided; and the additional measures that are planned to ensure timely access to assessments (including psychological assessments) and supports for children awaiting school placements. [50399/26]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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Enabling students with special educational needs to receive an education that meets their needs 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 students with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where students with more complex needs require additional supports, special class and special school places are provided. This is in keeping with policy on an inclusive education, which promotes that students will be supported to receive an education in the most inclusive setting possible.

The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) under the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, enables the full inclusion and meaningful participation of children with disabilities/additional needs in the Early Childhood Care & Education Scheme (ECCE) programme. Its goal is to create a more inclusive environment in pre-schools, so all children availing of preschool, regardless of ability, can benefit from quality early learning and care. There has been a significant increase in resources and supports provided to children with additional needs accessing the AIM programme over recent years.

It is important to note that a diagnosis is not required in order to access AIM supports and that while some children require additional supports at preschool level, many will transition into mainstream classes thereafter. This trend has also been noted as students’ progress from primary level to post-primary.

The NCSE is the statutory body responsible for the provision of special education and allocating supports for children and young people with special educational needs. Where the NCSE identifies need for an early intervention class, the class is sanctioned and supports are provided by my department to ensure the school can accommodate the class. Generally, these classes are resourced at a 6:1 student/teacher ratio and two special needs assistants (SNAs) are allocated to each class.

Early intervention classes are available in mainstream and special school settings for children aged 3 -5 years old with a diagnosis of autism. There is also a small number dedicated to children who are deaf/hard of hearing. These classes are intended to provide early support to children before they start school and can aid their transition to junior infants.

The Department of Education and Youth is committed to an education-based, needs-led approach to accessing education services. Children and young people in the education system have never required an Assessment of Need (AON) in order to access education supports. Since 2017, children and young people in mainstream schools have not required a diagnosis to access supports from the 15,000 special education teachers in our school system. The department has also removed the need for health-related information for special education teaching allocations, transitions between primary and post-primary special classes, assistive technology supports, and additional SNA requirements. A diagnosis is currently still required for access to a special school or class place.

Looking ahead, the department will develop a process for determining eligibility for specialist education settings that is education-based and needs-led. The department intends to work with all concerned to ensure a child centred approach.

The Assessment of Need (AON) process is provided for under the Disability Act 2005 and is under the remit of the Health Service Executive (HSE).

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 achieve their full potential.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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306. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to acknowledge the financial burden on families who are paying privately for essential services (such as speech and language therapy), and whether additional supports can be provided where HSE services are not meeting demand. [50400/26]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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In line with the programme for government commitment, the Education Therapy Service (ETS) has been established as a critical and important support for children and young people in their school environment.

The ETS will be delivered by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and is an additional support for children with special education needs. It is to compliment and not replace existing children’s health and disability services delivered through the HSE and other agencies. The delivery of health and social care services in a family centred manner remain within the remit of the existing children’s services. The ETS will provide supports to children and young people in their school environment focused on educationally relevant outcomes such as participation and engagement in their school environment.

On 6th February 2026, the Department of Education and Youth announced the phased rollout of ETS. It is important to highlight that this is the initial phase of the ETS rollout which will occur on a phased basis with a wider roll-out to further special schools within the 2026/2027 school year and a new initiative which will see all schools benefit in the coming years.

The initial phase of the ETS will commence in 45 special schools in this school year. The initial clusters will be based in Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Kilkenny, Louth, Laois, Limerick, Longford, Meath, Monaghan, Tipperary, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow.

As part of the ETS rollout and development, officials in my department will continue to engage with relevant departments and agencies on the alignment of resources, integrated working and the costings, including the funding of resources for occupational and speech and language therapy supports, associated with delivering this programme of work.

The ETS will develop an embedded therapy service which will ensure the development of robust relationships between therapist and teachers, allowing for co-design, joint problem solving and consistency. An embedded therapy service also provides the opportunity for consistent collaboration with parents and other service providers such as CDNTs and Primary Care.

In addition to the ETS, the NCSE has developed an education-based therapy support service known as the ETSS. The ETSS was established in June 2024 within the NCSE and initially comprised of 39 therapists, providing 2 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.

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 multi-tiered system of support. Regional Therapy seminars are available nationally for the 2025/2026 school year.

Supporting the provision of appropriate education to children and young people with additional needs, through a 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, is a key priority for my department.