I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Monaghan Community Special School is one of five new special schools established in the most recent school year. It is operating under the patronage of the Cavan Monaghan ETB. The school supports 18 children and young people aged between four and 18 with a diagnosis of autism and complex needs, or students with complex learning needs with a professional recommendation for placement in a special school. The staffing comprises an administrative principal, administrative deputy principal, five class teachers, nine special needs assistants together with ten co-operation hours per week. The new school is located in Castleblayney in a former ETB school property, which was repurposed to facilitate the opening of the new school. The project was delivered under the Department’s SEN reconfiguration and modular accommodation programme, which facilitated the school opening as quickly as possible. The programme involves the use of the project management support which is designed to enable accommodation to be provided as quickly as possible to help ease the administrative workload for school authorities in relation to management and delivery of the projects. This is a collaborative process between the project manager, school authorities and the Department. The project manager is overseeing the delivery of residue elements to ensure the successful completion of the project. The Minister, Deputy Naughton, visited the school recently and was very impressed with the facilities, the quality of teaching and the commitment of all the staff and the students under their care. The National Council for Special Education is the statutory body in this regard. Over recent years a huge amount of expansion has taken place not only in special schools but in special classes also. This will continue for the 2026-27 school year. Work is under way on a large number of classes. With regard to the Monaghan special school, the Deputy is correct that a huge effort was put in by families and their supporters over a continuous time, particularly during the previous Dáil. As chair of the disability committee at the time, I was acutely aware of the challenges there. In his opening statement, he alluded to having special schools in the community because far too many children travel long distances for specialised school places throughout the country. The site in question was a former ETB building, which was repurposed to get it into use in as fast a time as possible to ensure the 18 children could attend. Some of the children travel long distances in Cavan and Monaghan; I am aware of some of the families and have engaged with them on it. We keep under review needs and requirements, particularly in special education. In recent years we have built almost 16 new special schools and more will follow to meet the capacity. We are keeping under constant consideration the school in Castleblayney. I thank the school authorities for the excellent work they have done in opening and facilitating the families. They have been engaging with the Department and we want to continue this. We keep under constant review the accommodation needs and not only from September to September. We also need to plan to make proper accommodation available for students who require specialist education places such as are offered in special schools.

Sentiment score: 0.33

I take the point and it is crucial. A lot of planning and work has gone into opening 16 special schools in recent years. This was coming on the back of the State not providing special schools over the years because of international policy, and we can debate this left, right and centre. I was chair of the education committee 20 years ago when there was mainstreaming. There are a number of issues we have to catch up with. We have moved the date from 1 February to 1 October to bring greater certainty to families. I know the pressure that families are under when they are looking for a special class space or a special school place, and the enormous strain and pressure on the family and the wider family in this regard. I have dealt with many families and been advising and helping them over many years on this. The opening of the school in Monaghan in the current school year was a welcome initiative. I know it was welcomed by all the community. I understand the parents who met the Minister when she visited and I know families who have children in the particular school. I assure the Deputy that I am constantly looking at how we plan for the future to have a system in place in the Department and in all of the other education stakeholders to make sure we future-proof the system. I take the points made by him. I assure him this is not the first time the special school in Monaghan has come across my desk. I have been constantly engaging with all local representatives on it and I will continue to do so. I take the points on board.

Sentiment score: 0.22

I thank the Deputy and welcome the opportunity to speak on St. Marnock's National School in Portmarnock, County Dublin. The Deputy has been liaising with the Department in relation to this issue. The school is under the patronage of the Archdiocese of Dublin and is in the Portmarnock school planning area. Last September, the school had an enrolment of 638 pupils and 26 mainstream teachers, three special class teachers, one learning support teacher, one administrative deputy principal, seven special education tutors and one shared special education tuition post. To plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, the Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system using data from a range of sources, including the Central Statistics Office, CSO, census data, child benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressures for school places across the country will arise and where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary levels. The Department produces demographic projections based primarily on the child benefit data, which is made available from the Department of Social Protection. It addresses details for all children aged from birth to five years living in the State and in receipt of child benefit. This is used as a basis for projection of future junior infant intake at primary level. The data provides the overview for future school place demand. The child benefit data is then adjusted with localised data on the age of the first enrolment to account for patterns of movement where children are known to typically cross school planning area boundaries to enrol in schools. A huge amount of data is being gathered from the Department of Social Protection and elsewhere to identify where the challenges are. As regards the issue the Deputy raised, Portmarnock's school planning area has five primary schools. The demographic analysis for primary level shows projections for Portmarnock will peak in 2027. Furthermore, the actual 2025-26 enrolments for Portmarnock's special planning area were less than were projected for the 2025-26 school year. While the Department is aware of the enrolment pressures and the demand for additional school places in some areas, including Portmarnock, it is important to note that enrolment pressures can be driven by a number of issues. To return to the issue the Deputy raised, I know from his engagement and the engagement of others with the Department, and from a number of families I know from the area who have been engaging, that there are huge challenges. Portmarnock is one of the areas of the country where there is huge growth. The Deputy mentioned housing estates being developed and the number of children in particular estates. We are acutely aware of that. I assure the Deputy that the Department is keeping a very close eye on the matter. It is continuously looking at where the pressures are. In the 2025-26 school year, there are 7,000 fewer primary school students in the system than there were in the 2024-25 school year. I accept that that is of little benefit to Portmarnock, an area in which the population is growing enormously. I assure the Deputy that we will monitor this very carefully and try to do what we need to do.

Sentiment score: 0.26

Modular accommodation was approved for the school in question last May. It is near completion in relation to special education classrooms as well. I have looked at the enrolments and staffing in the school. I can share that information on enrolments from 2020 to date with the Deputy. I assure him that the Minister and I are acutely aware of this issue. We look at where the pressures are in primary and post-primary education. There are specific counties where there is a huge challenge at post-primary level and specific parts of the country that have challenges in relation to primary school education. Portmarnock is one of the latter group. We are working to make sure we have practical solutions in place, not just for September 2026 but right through. We need to plan properly for the future. We have to take into consideration all the demographic analysis we have done and all the information we have to ensure we are not back here again next year or the year after that. There are particular pockets of the country where primary school education is challenging, notwithstanding the decrease in the number of students in primary school. In other parts of the country, other issues have developed. In relation to the school the Deputy referenced and Portmarnock in general, I assure the Deputy that we are monitoring the position and engaging with all the school authorities, the education sector and the education partners to make sure we do the right thing. I have some background information which I will share with the Deputy, if that is helpful.

Sentiment score: 0.26