Teacher Training

Tuesday, 29 September 2026

Questions (445)

Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh

Question:

445. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Education and Youth if her Department has considered making CPD for teachers in the area of SEN mandatory. [68965/26]

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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.

Special education placements are now mandatory for student teachers and appropriate modules have been added to course programmes to support this measure.

In addition, a range of options are available to support teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) through training opportunities in special education. These are provided within initial teacher education (ITE) programmes for student teachers and teacher professional learning (TPL) programmes for established teachers. Other options include short, flexible on-line opportunities and funding for placement on graduate and post-graduate programmes.

Central to TPL is Oide, a Department of Education and Youth funded TPL service. All Oide TPL programmes are designed and underpinned with the fundamental principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a framework that facilitates the inclusion of all learners to access the school curriculum in a meaningful way.

In addition, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) offer full school support to all staff and provide support for teachers with training needs in special education, through the NCSE support service. This service manages, co-ordinates and develops a range of supports in response to identified training need. Any school who feels it has a training need can contact their local special education needs organiser to arrange training.

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.