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.
Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) is under the remit of my department, and operates under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000 (the Act), a piece of legislation that emphasises the promotion of school attendance, participation and retention.
Under Section 23 of the Act, the Board of Management of each school must prepare and make available a code of behaviour for its students. The Act also requires that the school code of behaviour is prepared in accordance with guidelines issued by Tusla and specify the following:
(a) the standards of behaviour that shall be observed by each student attending the school
(b) the measures that may be taken when a student fails or refuses to observe those standards
(c) the procedures to be followed before a student may be suspended or expelled from the school concerned
(d) the grounds for removing a suspension imposed in relation to a student
(e) the procedures to be followed relating to notification of a child’s absence from school
Section 21 of the Act sets out certain circumstances when a school principal is obliged to inform an educational welfare officer, including where a student is suspended for a period of not less than 6 consecutive school days.
The Department of Education and Youth published Guidelines on Understanding Behaviours of Concern and Responding to Crisis Situations in 2024. These Guidelines focus on prevention, intervention and de-escalation strategies that can be used by staff to support students to regulate their behaviour.
A range of training opportunities is available to schools through the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to support their engagement with the guidelines and with the broader issue of student behaviour. The NCSE also employs a number of specialist roles to support schools and build teacher capacity that include autism advisors and behaviour advisors, who are assigned across regional support teams to provide advice, support and resources to schools.
As detailed in circular 0081/2024, all schools have been required to report instances of restraint to the NCSE since September 2025. Information arising from this process will be used to inform the NCSE’s programme of training supports for schools and to target NCSE supports to particular schools.
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 reach their full potential.
