I thank the Deputy for raising this question. I was in Kerry and visited a number of the special schools there in recent weeks. I visited Nano Nagle Special School in Listowel, St. Francis Special School in Beaufort and St. Ita's and St. Joseph's Primary and Post-Primary Special School in Tralee. These were very insightful visits and showed the tremendous work being done by principals, teachers, SNAs, boards of management and the wider school communities in each area. Each of the schools demonstrated superb leadership in how they can support and deliver for children with additional needs. There was such a positive supportive environment in each of the schools and I want to put on record my appreciation for the work all of these schools are doing, which was clearly evident on our visit. It also gave me first-hand insight into the many challenges the schools can face, which we hope to address in the coming years. Various pieces of work are under way to further enhance how we support children with additional educational needs throughout the country, including Kerry. There are four special educational needs organisers operating solely in Kerry while 44 psychologists are providing support to children in primary, post-primary and special schools throughout region 5, which covers counties Cork, Kerry and Clare. As the Deputy will be aware, significant funding has been provided in successive budgets for a substantial increase of staffing in the NCSE and the National Educational Psychological Service. Both services are critical to students with special educational needs. In recent years we have been steadily building on our special needs teacher and SNA posts. Budget 2025 provides for an additional 768 special education teachers and 1,600 SNA posts. This will mean that by the end of this year we will have more than 44,000 professionals dedicated to supporting children with special educational needs in our education system. To put this in perspective, there has been an increase of 22% in the number of teachers and a 32% increase in the number of SNAs since 2020.
Sentiment score: 0.54
I thank the Deputies for the questions. I turn first to the issue in north-east Kerry. I have no difficulty in taking the details from the Deputy and following through on the specific issues. On Deputy Gould's point, the NCSE has been looking at the number of pupils who have come forward. The closing date was in February. We are doing everything humanly possible to make sure there are classes available. I am aware of some of the schools that have put forward names and that would accept classes, but we are trying to match needs with places. I know some of the buildings. We had a Commencement matter in the Seanad today about Scoil Eoin. I am aware of the issues in Scoil Eoin and the building project there as well. We are working extremely hard right across the country. I have seen the evidence of the work that has been done by the NCSE and the Department of Education to make sure there are places available for every child in September. On the SEN allocation, I will reply to Deputy Conway-Walsh in the next part of my reply.
Sentiment score: 0.06
I will respond directly to Deputy Conway-Walsh with the details. On the issue in north-east Kerry, there have been extra SENOs put into the field since last September. My experience to date is that they have been working extremely well with families and school communities to ensure that the need is being addressed as locally as possible. There was a circular earlier in the year relating to medium-to-large schools. That is because the NCSE and the Department felt it was being left unduly up to the smaller schools to lift the burden with regard to special classes. We want to make sure that every school across the county is making provision for special education. As Deputy Daly rightly pointed out at the start of his question, the need is growing right across the country. Every school will have to make provision. I do not have the details of the school to hand, so it would be wrong of me to discuss it here or make any commitment on it. However, I am willing to take the details from the Deputy and I will report back to him.
Sentiment score: 0.18
I thank the Deputy. The Government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to reach their full potential. In the programme for Government, we have a number of commitments in that regard. Dedicated working groups have been established by the Department of Education to work through the details relating to the establishment of the five new special schools for the 2025-26 school year, including the new special school in County Monaghan. In the previous Dáil, I had the honour of chairing the disability committee and many of the groups that appeared before us spoke about the need for a special school in County Monaghan. The Deputy's colleague in the Seanad, Senator Tully, who was Leas-Chathaoirleach of our committee, was to the fore at the committee on that issue. We are establishing a new special school in County Monaghan under the patronage of Cavan and Monaghan Education and Training Board. This is a new school to be located in Castleblayney. It is a former school property, which is being repurposed to facilitate the opening of a new school. A principal for the new special school is currently being recruited. This role is critical to the special school's advancement of its enrolment policies and procedures as agreed with the school patron. The school will provide for students with a diagnosis of autism and complex learning needs, or students with complex learning needs with a professional recommendation for a special school. I understand that the school will initially admit 18 students and the application window for admissions closed last week. A number of information events for parents were held jointly by the ETB and the NCSE in recent weeks. The Deputy asked a specific question. At most of the departmental meetings, we discuss all of the special schools that are being established. The Department is keeping Cavan-Monaghan, and the Monaghan region in particular, under constant review as regards the number of children who will need a special school in the coming year.
Sentiment score: 0.33
First, I wish to reassure the Deputy that the Department and the design team within it, the NCSE and the local ETB will continue to review the accommodation options available to allow the special school to grow and expand. While it is initially for 18 students in the coming year, we want to ensure we have available space to meet the growing need that we anticipate within the Monaghan community over the next number of years. I do not have to hand the exact number of students who had applied by 31 March but I will get that information for the Deputy and pass it on to him. I am reassured by the Department and the NCSE that they are reviewing. There is a lot of work going on in the context of the five special schools we are opening throughout the country. Each one of them has a working group to ensure it is opening with the necessary facilities not just for this year but for future years as well.
Sentiment score: 0.44
I met a number of the parents who were here last week. I know only full well the battle that all the families and parents are going through, not just from being a public representative but also from personal experience as well. I am fully aware of the challenges parents face daily with regard to special needs, particularly the battles around the country for special schools. I refer to a number of policies that were being spearheaded by the UN decades ago in relation to mainstreaming. There are children with acute needs who will need special schools. We need to ensure those places are developed, not just on temporary sites, but rather that they are available and developed on permanent sites that are in the centre of their communities. We need to make sure that children with special educational needs, whether they are in Castleblayney or any other part of the country, are in a central location and that we have proper facilities for them. I will give a commitment that I will work as hard as is humanely possible for as long as I hold this role to make sure we have places available for children. In this instance, we will have 18 spaces available, but we will work over the next while to make sure there are more spaces throughout the country.
Sentiment score: 0.35
I thank the Deputy for the question. I also thank him for the work he does in this sector and the support he has given me since I took up this role. I greatly appreciate it. The majority of children with special educational needs are supported by mainstream classroom teachers, special education teachers and SNAs to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children have more complex needs, a special class or special school place needs to be provided. There are 2,700 new places being created and there are more than 1,200 places already in existing special classes and schools. There are close to 4,000 places available for the coming school year. There is a significant level of provision. The Department and NCSE have created the significant capacity for children whose parents and schools have identified to them as requiring a place. The NCSE has sanctioned more than 390 special classes to date and is working on actively engaging with other schools and school patron bodies to confirm additional special classes as soon as possible. Of these, 53 are in Cork, 35 at primary level and 18 at post-primary level. This will add to the 563 special classes currently in operation in County Cork. The NCSE advises that there are vacant places in a number of special classes across County Cork as well that are available to students for the forthcoming school year. Of the 16 special schools with approximately 1,060 students enrolled, three were established in the past five years. One of the new special schools for next September will be located in the north of Cork city. It is expected this school will open for enrolment shortly. It will initially enrol 24 students. The site of the school, as the Deputy will be well aware, is at the former primary school at Carrignavar but due to building works, the school will open temporarily in available school accommodation in Fermoy, which means that the school can open on 1 September. My Department is working with school patron bodies, particularly Cork ETB, to expand capacity at other schools, particularly those that opened in recent years, namely, Rochestown Community Special School and East Cork Community Special School.
Sentiment score: 0.41
This will offer over 70 additional special school places in addition to the new capacity created in the new special school in north Cork.
Sentiment score: 0.75
In fairness, if the Deputy had listened to what I said, he would know that is not what I said.
Sentiment score: 0.00
We are deadly serious about making sure there are special places and special schools open in Cork-----
Sentiment score: 0.75