Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 October 2025
211. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Education and Youth if her Department has introduced or updated training programmes for school staff on disability rights and inclusive education following a Supreme Court judgment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54100/25]
View answerIt has been a long standing policy within my department that children with special educational needs be supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special class and special school places are provided.
My department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) are committed to ensuring that no matter where a child is enrolled they have access to the required supports to enable them to achieve their educational goals. At the heart of this are the 44,000 special education teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) dedicated to ensuring each child is valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.
Supporting this is the variety of differentiated teaching approaches encouraged by my department to accommodate the varying levels of ability in classrooms. This facilitates the inclusion of all learners to access the school curriculum in a meaningful way.
A range of options are available to teachers and SNAs in regard to training opportunities in special education. These are provided within initial teacher education (ITE) programmes for student teachers and teacher professional learning (TPL) programmes for established teachers. Other options include short, flexible on-line opportunities and funding for placement on graduate and post-graduate programmes.
Central to TPL is Oide, a Department of Education and Youth funded TPL service. All Oide TPL programmes are designed and underpinned with the fundamental principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a framework that facilitates the inclusion of all learners to access the school curriculum in a meaningful way.
In addition, the NCSE offer full school support to all staff and provide support for teachers with training needs in special education, through the NCSE support service. This service manages, co-ordinates and develops a range of supports in response to identified training need. Any school who feels it has a training need can contact their local special education needs organiser to arrange training.
My department is also working on a range of measures to develop a more inclusive education system where the majority of children with special education needs are supported to attend their local school with their siblings and peers. This work is led by our commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which is one of the foundation stones for the NCSE policy advice on inclusive education, which advocates for the progressive realisation of an inclusive system.
