Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 November 2025
371. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she plans to review the special school model and the related system of supports which are available in an inconsistent basis to such schools across the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65356/25]
View answerThis government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective.
In 2026, over €3 billion will be spent supporting children with special educational needs. It will ensure that specialist capacity continues to grow by providing 3,000 specialist places. The majority of these places will be available in special classes within mainstream schools, however, a number will also be made available in special schools. It will increase our special educational posts by 860 special education teacher and over 1,700 special needs assistant (SNA) posts. This will mean we will have over 46,500 professionals dedicated to supporting students with special educational needs in our education system. This is one of the highest annual increases in posts to date and is a firm reminder of this government’s commitment to supporting students with special educational needs.
Budget 2026 has also afforded a number of new initiatives such as funding for the roll out of the Education Therapy Service (ETS) which will begin initially in special schools, the introduction of extra special education teaching hours for post-primary schools to support coordination and transition efforts and indeed a special school package to support the unique challenges these schools face.
The Department of Education and Youth and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) will also, this year, look at the profile of existing special schools. This work will ensure children with complex educational needs can apply to their local special school and not have to travel long distances to access an appropriate education.
When a special school is established, there is an automatic allocation of a minimum of 1 teacher and 2 SNAs per class of 6 students but this is invariably increased based on the profile of needs of the students enrolled. Special schools are resourced by the NCSE based on an annual review of their enrolment and the profile of the children and young people enrolled in them. Schools may also apply to the NCSE for a review of their resource allocation. The NCSE will examine each request individually with consideration to each school's student profile.
My department actively engages with the representative bodies for special schools, in order to help to address some of these additional challenges these schools face over their mainstream counterparts.
Following close engagement with special schools, and awareness of the challenges facing special schools a number of new measures have been introduced to support special schools. Firstly, the appointment of new posts for administrative deputy principals in all special schools has been instrumental in assisting principals with leadership and management functions and to support learning and parental and community engagement.
Secondly, the allocation of 100 post-primary teaching posts to ensure a greater range of the national curriculum subjects can be taught to improve student progression and transition.
There has also been an increase in funding to ensure that the Summer Programme continues to expand for students with special educational needs.
In addition to these budgetary measures, my department is also working closely with the NCSE to further support special schools in relation to a range of issues relating to administration, curriculum and training.
My department and the NCSE will continue to support all schools including special schools to ensure we deliver an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.
