I thank the Deputies for the opportunity to speak in the debate. I thank everybody who has contributed so sincerely and genuinely this evening. They can rest assured that both the Minister, Deputy Naughton, and I will take due recognition of each and every one of the points that has been made. The old Irish saying that it takes a village to raise a child is never truer than when a child has special needs. It takes an extraordinary school community to ensure that a child can flourish. I want to use this opportunity to put on the record of the House my deep appreciation for every school principal, teacher, SNA, bus escort, bus driver, secretary, caretaker, and other school staff members around the country who support children with additional needs and ensure they can flourish. I meet every week with parents, schools, patrons, advocacy groups and other education stakeholders to discuss special education, both what is working and where there is room for improvement. Members mentioned that pinch points often arise at the transition points from early years to primary school, from primary to post-primary, and from post-primary on to life after school. This is something that comes to the fore when it comes to the provision of special education placements, whether in a special class or in special schools. It is important to remember that the majority of children and young people with special educational needs are supported to access mainstream classes with their peers. Where children have more complex needs a special class can be provided and for children with the most complex needs a special school place can be provided. At the start of this school year, through the accelerated provision of new special class and special school places over recent years, we had 31,000 specialist places. For each of the past five years, we have provided approximately 400 new special classes with six places in each and 300 special school places. For the coming year, based on the additional funding approved by the Cabinet this morning, we will go well beyond that in terms of provision for the next school year. It has been noted in the House tonight that more than 330 special classes have been approved this year, with more to follow in the coming weeks. As Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion, I continue to meet officials of the National Council for Special Education, along with senior officials in the Department of education on a weekly basis to track the progress being made in providing new specialist places. This work is ongoing. As always, the NCSE continues to monitor and review the level of need and how many children and young people are being offered places. There are many moving parts to all of this as our school admissions process happens at a local level. I pay tribute to the members of the council and the officials from the Department who work with me each Wednesday morning to make sure that we monitor the situation. The motion refers to a wide range of issues. I want to touch on some of them now and the work that is being progressed. I have a deep appreciation for every single SNA who works in our school communities. When I meet them on school visits, I always say that we have built special education on their backs. I know full well the importance of the SNA to families and in particular to children to ensure they have access to education that allows them to flourish. In September 2026, we will have the largest number of SNAs, at almost 25,000, ever available in schools. Funding for approximately 500 additional SNAs is being provided. As previously agreed by the Government, all schools reviewed by the NCSE and allocated additional SNA resources will receive them. No SNA reduction will come into effect in the 2026-27 school year. The SNA redeployment scheme, the SNA workforce development plan and changes to a 2014 circular outlining the role of an SNA will be advanced before any further decisions are taken. As the Minister said, we did a full day of consultation on those key pieces - the SNA redeployment scheme, the SNA workforce development plan and the changes to the circular. Many Members offered opinions on them. We have been very clear in that regard. Ongoing work is at an advanced stage. We fully understand that has to be done as a priority. The priority remains to ensure that the child-centred approach to the provision of special education is retained and enhanced in these policy developments. These policies will ensure special education into the future. In relation to the development of a circular on the role of the SNA, my Department has concluded a comprehensive review of the role of the SNA as part of ongoing work on the SNA workforce development plan. This work was supported by working groups comprising a wide range of stakeholders, which have met a number of times over the past year or so, providing input from their perspectives. The Department has also conducted significant focus group research, as well as a national survey of SNAs to ensure everybody in our school communities was given the opportunity to provide input. The result is a draft circular that provides a detailed description of the range of duties and responsibilities of the evolving SNA role and that is a product of meaningful collaboration with all those in school communities. Fórsa, the recognised trade union representative body of the SNAs, and the Department will continue to work and engage on this. I am very pleased that, over the past 12 months, the Government took a decision to put the education therapy service back into our schools. This was committed to at election time. A huge amount of work has been done over the past year. I truly believe this will be a game-changer for children and young people with additional needs and also their schools and families. This will supplement existing children's health and disability services. The initial focus is on educational therapists and speech and language therapists. In time, other disciplines, such as physiotherapy, will be included. The first tranche, 45 special schools, has been announced and it is intended to roll out the remainder of the special schools over the 2026–27 school year. The NCSE recently completed a recruitment campaign for senior and staff-grade occupational speech and language therapists for the initial counties. Panels have been created for the first recruitment campaign and posts are currently being offered, with an expectation that the therapists will be in situ in May 2026. This education therapy service will provide a multi-tiered model of support for children, parents and school communities. The service will focus on education-relevant goals, supporting children to fully participate in their school environments and maximise positive outcomes. During the debate, legal cases were mentioned. The Department's aim is to ensure no child will ever need to take a case against the State. Where it happens, the Department continues to work with parents to ensure solutions are found as quickly as possible and cases are settled before they go to court. It is important to continue to do that. Over recent months, particularly since Christmas, we have worked nearly every Monday night. The Minister and I have worked collaboratively across government to ensure the best possible outcomes for children in September 2026. Owing to the portal deadline of 1 October, we have better sight of the number of children. Additional classes were announced months earlier than last year and work is continuing with the NCSE. The Department is continuing daily to ensure more classes will be sanctioned over the next while. Inclusive special classes were mentioned, including the five announced last week. We are not cutting back on staff. We are supporting them and the ratio is exactly the same. It is a matter of encouragement and ensuring that, as far as is possible, inclusion is at the very heart of special education provision. Many school communities, particularly at post-primary level, are doing an excellent job, as was evident in a number of places we visited. They are all saying that if they had the resources in terms of teachers or SNAs, they would be able to do more. Those resources have been put in place. We have to ensure we are embracing all models of education to have better outcomes for children. It will save us in the long run. The investment in special education that the Minister and I are presiding over and have fought for over recent months will make a real difference to children, families and society in the long run.

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