Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 April 2026
557. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of reviews of special education needs provision commissioned by her Department before and since the NCSE was established; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30096/26]
View answer562. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether the correlation between schools with high needs, under measures of disadvantage and measures of special education need have been evaluated; if so, what does it show; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30101/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 557 and 562 together.
I propose to take PQs 557 and 562 together.
This government is fully committed to supporting students with special educational needs and along with addressing educational disadvantage is a priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth. The DEIS programme is a key policy initiative for addressing concentrated educational disadvantage at school level and currently supports almost 1,200 primary and post primary schools, reaching approximately 260,000 students, with an annual investment of over €180 million. Budget 2026 builds on this commitment by allocating an additional €16.5 million in 2026, rising to €48 million in 2027, to support the implementation of a new DEIS Strategy and the introduction of the DEIS Plus scheme.
My colleague, the Minister for Education and Youth, Hildegard Naughton, recently introduced the new DEIS Strategy to 2035, which includes the DEIS Plus scheme and represents the most significant expansion of targeted supports since the establishment of DEIS. DEIS Plus is designed to provide enhanced, evidence based supports to a cohort of 121 schools with the highest concentrations of children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage, identified through a refined, data based model drawing on a range of indicators associated with persistent and intergenerational disadvantage. This targeted approach ensures that additional resources are directed where they can have the greatest impact, and forms a core element of the wider €48 million full year investment across both the DEIS Strategy and the DEIS Plus scheme, which will commence this year.
The DEIS Strategy also acknowledges that students at risk of educational disadvantage are present in all schools. It therefore focuses on improving outcomes, encouraging innovation, and ensuring schools can access the right supports when needed. The strategy sets out actions to develop an agile resource allocation model to support children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage in all primary and post primary schools. These actions focus on the continued enhancement of data to measure school level disadvantage and the development of a more flexible resource allocation model that can respond to change in school needs and provide the right resources at the right time.
Inspectorate support helps improve education provision for all children and young people. They promote best practice and school improvement by advising teachers, principals and boards of management in schools. The Inspectorate shares findings from inspections with the education system to support the overarching education, inclusion and equity goals to which educators and policy makers in Ireland aspire. Their report, Towards High-Quality Learning Experiences for All: Provision for children and young people with special educational needs in primary and post-primary schools (https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/towards-high-quality-learning-experiences-for-all-provision-for-children-and-young-peo.pdf), provides important insight.
My department and the 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.
