The provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post-primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs, is an absolute priority for me. Recognising the potential for school place pressures, my Department has been engaging on an ongoing basis with the primary schools in Dunshaughlin and has assessed application and admissions data provided by those schools. In response to the identified need, my Department has engaged with the patron of Dunshaughlin Community National School and has sanctioned the opening of a second junior infant class at the school for 2026. Department officials have been advised by the school that offers have now been made. Parents can be assured that all pupils in Dunshaughlin will have a place available for September. It is important to note also that construction work on the new school building for Dunshaughlin Community National School is progressing well and is scheduled to be completed by early 2027. My Department's responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in that area. With respect to language and ethos preferences, parents have the right to choose which school to apply to. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available, a selection process may be necessary. This may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice. Each year, 140,000 children and young people enter a new school, mainly at junior infant level and at first year in post-primary schools. On the whole, admissions processes run smoothly each year. My Department is required to engage with schools and patrons in only a handful of cases to make additional class capacity available. The annual enrolment process for new junior infants classes at primary and first year at post-primary is a large-scale operation. As the Deputy will be aware, there are close to 4,000 schools in the country and there are 140,000 new pupils involved.
Sentiment score: 0.19
There is ongoing engagement between the Department and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, with the schools. In relation to the Gaelscoil, because this is related and it is within the area, my Department has been in ongoing contact with the school. As of 14 April, there are 30 pupils remaining on its waiting list. It is important to note that some of those pupils may have accepted a place elsewhere in the area. The school has contacted all families on the waiting list to confirm whether they wish to remain on it and these 30 pupils have confirmed that they do. There is some duplication between waiting lists for the community national school and the Gaelscoil. Once acceptances have been confirmed by children on the waiting list for the community national school who are being offered places in the newly sanctioned class, those on the Gaelscoil waiting list will be advised of its remaining places. It is the Department's responsibility to make sure there are places within a catchment area. An ongoing extension project for the Gaelscoil will provide two mainstream classrooms, two special education tuition rooms and two special education rooms. The project, as the Deputy may be aware, is currently at stage 2b, detailed design.
Sentiment score: 0.29
I reiterate that I am in ongoing engagement with Oireachtas Members, including the Deputy today and other colleagues. My Department is engaging on an ongoing basis with Dunshaughlin Community National School. As I said, parents can be assured that all pupils in Dunshaughlin will have a place available for September. The construction of a new school for Dunshaughlin Community National School is progressing. That is well under way. That will be completed in early 2027. In relation to the Gaelscoil, two mainstream classrooms, two special education tuition rooms and two special education rooms are at stage 2b and planning permission was granted in February of this year. We are aware of the demographics and demands in the area. As I said, we were in contact with the Gaelscoil in relation to its waiting list and it is working through that. There is ongoing engagement. The Deputy can be assured that for parents - I know this is the main concern - we will work intensively to make sure children have a place in the area for the new school year.
Sentiment score: 0.29
The National Council for Special Education has verified that 7,860 children and young people notified to it by 1 October 2025 meet the requirements for a special class or special school place for the 2026-27 school year. Further children have come forward after this date, and this will continue right up to September 2026. Approximately 7,000 of the 7,860 children and young people have a diagnosis of autism. There is generally an adequate number of available places for children and young people with other diagnoses. The focus, therefore, continues to be on new places for children and young people with autism. This data continues to be reviewed and analysed by the NCSE, which continues to engage with families. It is the experience of the NCSE that some families who contacted it may decide not to apply for a special education place. This may be where the place is not in a particular school of their choice where a student is already being supported appropriately in his or her existing school. Data available to the NCSE shows that approximately 75% of the children and young people who came forward by the 1 October deadline are already enrolled in school. As in previous years, the priority group for access to specialist placements for the 2026-27 school year are for those without a school place, namely, children moving into primary school for the first time; children moving from primary to post-primary school; and children without a school place such as those who might have moved into an area or where their previous placement has broken down. Budget 2026 initially provided for 3,000 new places. There are over 2,500 places also available through the normal annual movement of students from primary to post-primary and finishing school. The funding approved by the Government earlier this week will allow to provide for further new special classes and special school places over and above the 3,000 new places already budgeted for. That work continues and the new special classes will continue to be confirmed over the coming weeks.
Sentiment score: 0.21
Many of the 2,700 new special education places provided for in the 2025-26 school year are in special classes, which means there are now 3,741 special classes in our education system. Budget 2026 provided €3 billion to support children with special educational needs and that allowed for 3,000 new special places for the 2026-27 school year, with 1,700 special needs assistants, SNAs, 860 special education teachers, €16 million for education therapy services, extra special education teacher hours for transition and co-ordination and a special school package increase in capital funding for these schools. This week, a memo went to the Government under which I secured additional funding for the whole education budget, not just special education, because there was a structural deficit in the Department. Already to date, well in advance of previous years, we have sanctioned more than 400 special classes and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and I have continued to announce these. We want to do more of that. Work is ongoing with the NCSE and schools because there will be parents who may not yet know that their child needs a special class.
Sentiment score: 0.42
As I said, 7,860 parents were notified to the NCSE before 1 October. There are more who are still engaging with that process so I secured extra funding for the roll-out of further special classes. Some parents are still waiting for reports or recommendations and some parents might not be aware that their child may require a special class. However, I reassure those parents and families that they will be supported in seeking a placement in a school. Some 240,000 children who have additional needs are supported in mainstream settings. The Deputy will be aware that the NCSE began sanctioning new special classes in January this year, which was several months earlier than last year. Some 427 classes have been sanctioned to date, with an additional five inclusive classes. In addition, there are 139 special schools, including seven schools attached to hospitals and three schools attached to CAMHS units, with approximately 9,817 pupils enrolled in those 139 schools. These numbers will evolve over the next few months. If parents engage with the NCSE, it is the role of the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and I to ensure they have-----
Sentiment score: 0.35
-----school places and are supported in those settings.
Sentiment score: 0.32
The school building projects for Dunboyne junior and senior national schools will deliver a new 24-classroom primary school for the senior school and an eight-classroom extension and refurbishment project for the junior school. Both school projects will also include classrooms for children with additional needs. I am aware that there have previously been procurement difficulties with this project and that an opportunity was taken to request the design team to do an element of redesign to include in the scope of works decarbonisation measures for both schools, and a fabric upgrade for the primary school. The revised stage 2b report for the senior national school was submitted in June 2025 and is currently with the Department for review. On completion of the junior national school's stage 2b report, the design team will be authorised to re-engage with the local authority regarding the planning permission. In January this year, my Department published its sectoral national development plan, NDP, implementation plan, which included a list of 105 prioritised projects to proceed to construction or tender in 2026 and 2027. A Department-led prioritisation process will continue over the course of 2026 and 2027 to assess and evaluate the progression of individual projects through the design pipeline, including projects at stage 2b, such as Dunboyne junior and senior national schools. They are not part of the initial tranche of 105, but this will ultimately inform the next tranches of the programme roll-out to tender. Officials will continue to engage with Dunboyne junior and senior national schools on their accommodation needs, including any interim arrangements that need to be put in place. Since 2020, the Department of education has provided €473 million in capital funding for Meath schools and, during this period, a total of 62 schools have been upgraded through the provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or provision of modular accommodation. Currently, 13 school projects in Meath are under construction, seven school projects will go to tender or construction this year and next year, and ten schools have been approved for the summer works and climate action summer works schemes.
Sentiment score: 0.09
The Deputy will be aware there are a number of factors. This is a general statement about the NDP and projects to be prioritised. Demographic pressures in an area, enrolments in the wider catchment area, special education provision and that schools do not currently have a home are all factored into the prioritisation. On the school in question, we absolutely recognise the need for prioritisation here. This is a five-year NDP programme. The first tranche has been announced. Due to the project being re-tendered, the design team is currently carrying out a pre-qualification for a main contractor and reserved specialist. The project is now at an advanced stage of architectural planning, stage 2b - detailed design. The design team submitted an updated stage 2b report for the senior school in June last year. The amended design was to ensure decarbonisation measures were included and it included a new scope. In the interim, the Department has agreed the temporary accommodation for the junior school site. That will be replaced as it is no longer fit for purpose.
Sentiment score: 0.10
Where planning permission has previously been secured but is due to run out before the project can be delivered, there are mechanisms. My Department is very aware of this and would have a lot of experience in relation to it. The Department examines projects on a case-by-case basis to determine the best course of action. One approach might be engagement with the local authority to request an extension to the existing planning permission, for example. I am just speaking in the general here. This would be applicable, for example, where a project has substantially commenced on site before the expiry date of the planning permission. In some instances, a new planning application may be required and in cases where that is necessary, the Department will avail of the opportunity to review, and, where appropriate, update the scope of the project. Officials from my Department, along with the school's design team, engage with local authorities on this as a matter of common practice.
Sentiment score: 0.27