Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 December 2025
160. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Youth her plans to establish a special school in County Leitrim for children with severe disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [70322/25]
View answerThis government is fully committed to supporting students with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective.
Through the accelerated provision of additional special class and special school places over recent years, there are now over 30,000 students enrolled in special classes and special schools. 2,700 new places were created for the 2025/26 school year and these, together with the over 1,200 existing places due to students moving on from primary schools and post-primary schools, means that close to 4,000 specialist places were made available for the 2025/26 school year.
407 new special classes were sanctioned for the 2025/26 school year. Of these 2 are in County Leitrim, both at primary level. This brings to 33 the number of special classes currently in operation in the county.
There continues to be an increasing need to provide additional special school places to support students with complex needs. To meet this need, sixteen new special schools have been established in recent years, and capacity has been expanded in a number of others. Five of these were established for the 2025/26 school year in counties, Cork, Dublin (2), Monaghan and Tipperary.
The new special schools established over recent years have focused on providing additional places in our largest urban areas – Dublin and Cork. The department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) have already begun planning in relation to further expanding special school capacity for the 2026/27 school year. It is estimated that a further 300 new special school places may be required each year for the coming years.
In planning for increased special school places, my department and the NCSE review all available data on the growing need for special school places across the country. This involves a detailed analysis of enrolment trends and the potential for existing special schools in a region to expand.
When looking to provide additional capacity the department’s preferred option is to increase provision in existing special schools if possible. Where this is not possible in a region, the department and NCSE will consider the need to establish a new special school.
Part of the forward planning process as to where new classes, schools or expansion is required looks at the distance students are travelling to access an education appropriate to their needs. This is an important factor which has been incorporated into the decision-making process. Consideration is also given to the information the NCSE hold at local level on the number of children and young people seeking a special school place in a region.
My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements remain available for students with special educational needs and will continue to review and monitor the situation in County Leitrim and indeed nationwide as to where new special schools are required.
