At the outset, I recognise this project has been ongoing for some time. The major building project for the school referred to by Deputy Connolly will provide a new 16-classroom primary school with additional classrooms for pupils with special education needs. Following planning conditions imposed in 2018, a redesign was necessary. At that point, additional capacity was added to the school and subsequent planning was achieved in September 2023. The project is at an advanced stage of architectural planning, stage 2(b), detailed design, where the design team has secured all statutory applications and is preparing the suite of tender documents. The stage 2(b) submission was received by the Department in March 2025 for review by the multidisciplinary team. This is under way. Once this is complete, the next step will be a meeting of all stakeholders regarding the stage submission report. Since 2020, the Department has invested more than €6 billion in schools throughout the country under the national development plan, NDP, involving the completion of almost 1,400 school building projects. The Government's support for this investment has delivered real benefits for school communities. A recent Government decision has approved €210 million in supplementary capital funding for the Department to support the provision of special education accommodation and meet school place needs. This brings the total capital allocation for 2025 for the Department to €1.6 billion. As part of the NDP review process, the Department is engaging with the Department of public expenditure with respect to NDP allocations for the period 2026 to 2030. It is expected that there will be clarity on these allocations over the course of the summer, allowing the Department to plan its capital investment programme for the 2026 to 2030 period in line with prioritised needs and reflecting, as appropriate, wider Government priorities.
Sentiment score: 0.24
Yes, the submission has been with the Department since March. These reviews take time. I do not have a specific date for the Deputy but I will endeavour to get that information to her as a matter of priority. Both the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I will follow up to ensure that it is done as speedily as possible. I will endeavour to come back to Deputy Connolly with that timeline and a report as to how the process is going through the Department.
Sentiment score: 0.16
I will come back to the Deputy on it in writing. The documentation submitted in March, as I understand it, is quite a detailed document and involves a lot of work to make sure it is properly gone through. I give the Deputy a commitment that we will work to make sure it goes through the Department as speedily as possible, and we will come back to her in writing.
Sentiment score: 0.31
I thank the Deputy for the question. The 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. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on education provision for children with special educational needs, including the allocation of special needs assistants. The NCSE contacted all schools on 6 June to advise them of any changes to the SNA allocations for the coming school year, 2025-26. In regard to Gurteen National School, I am pleased to confirm that the NCSE has advised me it has allocated one additional SNA to the school for the next school year, 2025-26. I am very much aware of the central role that SNAs play in the successful inclusion of students with additional needs and significant care needs in schools. Looking back over the past 20 years at SNAs and the work they do, we should always compliment them because they really have made our education system more inclusive. They help to ensure that these students can access an education to enable them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential. The number of SNAs available for allocation has continued to increase annually, resulting in a significant increase in the number of SNA posts employed by schools. Budget 2025 provided for 1,600 SNAs, the largest number ever allocated, which brings to over 23,000 the number of SNAs in our schools. The NCSE manages the allocation of SNAs to schools and it is the responsibility of the NCSE to ensure that these resources are allocated to the children with the greatest level of need.
Sentiment score: 0.57
I take the point. I also met with the INTO yesterday in regard to its pre-budget submissions. It outlined the challenges in respect of SENCOs. The provision of special education has developed extraordinarily throughout the country over recent years. We have to pay tribute to school leadership and the school communities, be they teachers, SNAs or the other support people who make that possible. We have to look at how we are going to make it more inclusive and what better way we can structure the system to improve it. The Deputy's suggestion is certainly something that we will look at.
Sentiment score: 0.33
In respect of special classes and the huge issue of provision, the Government is totally committed to the provision of special classes and special needs places to allow children to grow to their full potential. Almost 400 special classes have been sanctioned for this year. Of these, 287 are at primary level and 112 are at post-primary level. In April of this year, the Department wrote to all schools opening new special classes requesting them to begin admissions processes without delay. The NCSE is engaging closely with schools and patron bodies to ensure that schools offer places to children seeking them as quickly as possible. The vast majority of schools opening new special classes have opened for admissions. The NCSE is engaging with a number of schools in Dublin to ensure the admission process is initiated as quickly as possible. Where these schools do not move to commence admissions processes, the NCSE will use the statutory powers under section 67 of the Education Act 1998 to direct schools to enrol children. My Department recently wrote to all schools outlining the need for all schools to review their admissions policies to ensure these policies are in keeping with best practice and are facilitating those children who most need access to a special class placement. Schools should also ensure they are working closely with the NCSE to support the children known to the NCSE by mid-February 2025. An appeal mechanism is available to schools in respect of appealing a decision that was made on the number of teachers in the school. I am not sure whether that process has been followed. The other thing I would say is that the Deputy might forward me the details. I do not have a document with me in respect of that particular school but I would be happy to follow it up.
Sentiment score: 0.44
There are a couple of things there. We understand the challenges that are ahead of us in terms of post-primary education because of the information we have at primary level. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and myself are acutely aware of it and are working extremely hard on it. One of the things we agreed very early on was to bring back the date from 1 February to 1 October to give better planning. I take the Deputy's point. We had some challenges in respect of primary school because the NCSE or the Department had not been notified of children with additional needs. We are going to plan that better. On the Deputy's own county of Louth, I think we have facilitated everybody who was requiring a place in Louth this year. An awful lot of great work has been done by the NCSE, the Department and the SENOs, and of course the school communities. The Government has made a decision and a memo was taken to the Government this week in respect of therapies within the schools. That is an ongoing discussion which has taken place over the last while at the Cabinet subcommittee on disability. They will be rolled out to the special schools this year. We have a lot of work done on that and an awful lot more that we will be doing over the next while.
Sentiment score: 0.17
On the therapists within the schools, that is being rolled out from September into the special schools. The plan is for the special schools in the first instance and then on to the special classes. They will be great enablers to provide the best possible outcomes for children with additional needs throughout the education system. An awful lot of work has gone into it over the last while. I compliment the Minister, Deputy McEntee, as well as the previous Minister on their commitment and the work they have done over the last while. It is something we are very focused on. We want to make sure that it happens in a meaningful way and that it strengthens the education system going forward. This is a very important piece of work for the Government and for the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and myself to ensure it is done. On the issues raised by the INTO yesterday, I did hear the commentary on the radio this morning. We are listening very carefully to all of the issues at school level. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I have been visiting schools around the country. We are getting information at every level on it. We will be working to ensure we do the right thing by schools and the school communities.
Sentiment score: 0.35