Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 March 2026
464. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Education and Youth to expand the furniture and repairs funding scheme to cover repair costs for special schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16686/26]
View answerMy Department provides funding furniture and equipment (F&E) for schools in various ways, depending on the appropriate delivery mechanism.
The F&E area within the Department of Education and Youth provides funding and administrative support to existing schools that do not have a live building project in order to have sufficient appropriate furniture and equipment to meet the needs of the vast majority of children in schools. This may include the replacement of loose F&E or the provision of specialist F&E.
However, as the furniture and equipment needs of some children are highly sensitive and individualised, these applications for funding are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
For this small cohort of children, part of the application process requires the submission of an Occupational Therapist’s (OT) report which details the individual requirements of a child, and the associated furniture and equipment needs.
It is not always possible to fund individual sensory and therapeutic items, as some of the items recommended by an OT are outside the current remit of the scheme, funding levels vary depending on the application received.
In addition to the above since 2025 when a school authority opens a new SEN classroom that has been sanctioned by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) the school may qualify for the start-up grant of €30,000 for each new SEN classroom sanctioned.
The grant is paid automatically by the Furniture and Equipment Section based on information provided by the NCSE list of approved Special classes.
Further information can be found under the following link:
www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/publications/furniture-and-equipment-process-for-existing-schools/#post-primary-equipment-list.
