Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 April 2026
230. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Education and Youth the SET hours provided to each primary school in Dublin 15 under circular 0011/2026 for the 2026-2027 school year; if this represents an increase or decrease in the number of SET hours provided in each school, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27811/26]
View answerThe 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.
The Special Education Teaching (SET) allocation model is a standardised allocation model that provides schools with additional teaching hours to support the identified and recorded teaching needs of students in mainstream classes. The mainstream class teacher has primary responsibility for the progress and care of all children in their classrooms, including children with additional learning needs.
The SET allocation model is a distribution model to ensure that the children with the greatest level of need in mainstream can get access to additional teaching support. It provides a transparent means of allocating Special Education Teaching (SET) resources to best meet the needs of children and to ensure consistency and equity in the system.
The SET allocation model distributes the total available number of Special Education Teaching posts in line with each school’s profile of need.
The model makes an allocation based on a number of inputs, including enrolment numbers. It also uses school-level data from standardised tests (in the Primary school model) and Junior Cycle data (in the Post Primary model) to reflect levels of overall additional learning need in the schools. It also incorporates data on students who have been granted exemptions from tests as this indicates additional learning need is required by them. As all children and young people from disadvantaged areas may not attend a DEIS school, the model applies a small value to schools based on individual pupils Eircode and the HP deprivation index and this is to ensure that schools who are not in receipt of the additional DEIS resources are allocated resources to support their potential additional learning need.
As is the case every year, where needs change resources follow with teaching hours moving to the schools where children need them most.
For any school that received a reduction in their allocation, this is due to changes in the profile of the school including demographic changes and enrolment reduction.
In Dublin 15 for example two schools have seen changes in their learning needs profile, including reduced enrolments of 88 pupils, while another school in the Dublin 15 area has seen an increase in the learning need profile including an enrolment increase of 85 pupils. The model as it always has done reallocates support to where it is required.
The SET allocation data by Dublin area codes is being compiled at present and will be published on the NCSE website shortly as in previous years.
My department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) are committed to delivering 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 achieve their full potential.
