Departmental Communications

Tuesday, 20 January 2026

Questions (515)

Eoghan Kenny

Question:

515. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Youth when her Government colleagues were informed either by her Department or the NCSE on the allocation of the first tranche of special classes for academic year 2026/27; the reason her Department failed to provide a full list officially on 12 January, the day her own Government colleagues announced classes for their own constituencies; to provide the official documentation that her Department or the NCSE gave to Government Deputies to announce on their social media and local press; to provide clarity to parents across the country on the reason the announcement was done in this manner, and not officially for all elected politicians and citizens to see; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3629/26]

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Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth

This 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.

Budget 2026 provides funding for a further 3,000 special class and special school places to be provided for the 2026/2027 school year. The NCSE last week formally sanctioned 168 new special classes in 159 schools across the country for the next school year 2026/2027. This is the first tranche of new special classes being sanctioned and is a number of months ahead of last year. Details of the new special classes are available on the NCSE website.

The confirmation of these new special classes follows months of direct engagement by the NCSE and my Department with school patron bodies, school management bodies and schools. As was the case in previous years, the sanctioning of new special classes was notified to government colleagues on Monday 12th January to align with the NCSE's direct communication with the relevant school authorities. The full list of newly sanctioned special classes was also published on the NCSE's website.

The NCSE expect to continue to sanction further new special classes over the coming weeks. The earlier sanctioning of these classes will provide clarity for parents and allow schools more time for the planning and establishment of new special classes.

Both Minister Naughton and I continue to meet with the NCSE and senior Department officials each week to track the progress being made on the provision of special education places for the coming school year 2026/2027 and beyond.