Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions – Dáil Éireann (34th Dáil) – Thursday, 28 May 2026

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions

Special Educational Needs

Darren O'Rourke

Ceist:

80. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the total number of applications made to date to the National Council for Special Education from parents seeking a special class or special school placement for their child; the number of applications made since the deadline of 1 October passed; the status of the roll-out of new special class and special school places to meet that need; the number of those children who do not have an offer of a school place on 25 May 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40992/26]

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth (Deputy Michael Moynihan)

The Department of education and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, continue to work closely with school patron bodies, school management bodies and schools to confirm new special classes for the next school year 2026-27. The NCSE began sanctioning new special classes in January of this year, which is several months earlier than was the case in 2025. The NCSE advise that 7,860 verified notifications were received by 1 October. The vast majority of the notifications are for the 2026-27 school year, but some are for beyond that. In addition, we recently announced inclusive special classes as part of a new approach to supporting students with additional needs. This is one of the many ways the Department is actively engaging to meet the increased demand. As of 28 May 2026, 546 new special classes have been sanctioned, including 47 inclusive special classes, which is 32 at post-primary level and 15 at primary level.

I expect schools opening new special classes to move forward now with the admissions processes for these new classes. In addition to providing additional special class places, four new special schools are being established. These schools will be established in Balbriggan, CityWest, Bray and Monasterevin.

Data continues to be reviewed and analysed by the NCSE, which continues to engage with families. It is the experience of the NCSE that some families who contacted them may decide not to apply for a special education place. This may be where a place is not in a particular school of choice or where the student is already being supported appropriately in their existing placement. The Department and the NCSE will continue to closely monitor the need for further special class and special school places nationwide as part of forward planning for the 2027-28 school year. The NCSE continues to engage closely with schools and families to track the placement of children and young people and determine the current remaining level of need for specialist places at local level.

Deputy Darren O'Rourke

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. It is reassuring to hear that the Department tracks the numbers and the placements. It would be more reassuring if it would make those public and provide them to Opposition politicians when they ask questions on them.

I will ask again in relation to the figures. The last time we were here the Minister of State indicated there were 7,860 notifications to the NCSE before 1 October, that about 75% of those children were already in school and that he was dealing with around 2,000 new applications. Based on 546 new classes sanctioned, the Minister of State has 3,276 places to address that need. How many children do not have an offer of a school place at this stage?

Deputy Michael Moynihan

We have the additional capacity that is being brought on between 2025 and 2026 and we have over 1,000 special classes opened across the country. We have new capacity and then there is additional capacity which is from the movement of students from primary into second level and from those leaving education. Just to reassure Deputy O'Rourke of the figure prior to 1 October, the NCSE and Department of education are continuing to liaise with families who being notified and contacted on an ongoing basis. We are ensuring we have places at primary, post-primary and special schools. That work has been intensifying right through the last number of months, into this week and beyond. We are working meticulously. I could not use any other word. There is engagement between the National Council for Special Education and the Department with families and with school communities to ensure we have appropriate school places for September 2026. That work is ongoing.

Deputy Darren O'Rourke

There are a couple of things there. We do not have the figure for the number of children who do not have an offer. We do not have the figure for the number of children who were notified to the NCSE after 1 October. I presume the Minister of State does have those figures but is not making them publicly available. That raises very significant concerns. Based on my estimation, we are talking about hundreds of children without an offer and thousands of children in inappropriate school placements - nearly 4,000 based on the applications prior to 1 October.

It is the Minister of State's formula of words that he "encourages" schools to go now and begin their admissions policy. Is he tracking that at all? Of the 546 classes that have been sanctioned, how many have their admissions completed or ongoing? Does the Minister of State know?

Deputy Michael Moynihan

I can assure Deputy O'Rourke that we are tracking. We are opening the special schools and we have engaged with the special classes. Yes, of course we are tracking the admissions policies because the admissions policy is the enabler from the sanction of the special class, the physical building, the teacher and the two SNAs, and also to ensure there are students in it. It is being tracked at all times.

We are constantly asked about numbers. The Minister and I are acutely aware of the need to make sure children have school places and we are working extremely hard on it. We are across this, day in, day out, right across the Department and the NCSE. I assure Deputy O'Rourke that the NCSE is meticulously working with families and with school communities. When sanctioning takes place, it is then on to the admissions policy to enable that class to be populated by students and to ensure they are in for the school year. The vast majority of those that have been sanctioned have the admissions policy up and running and most of them have it completed at this stage.

Special Educational Needs

Eoghan Kenny

Ceist:

81. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the revised 2014 SNA circular, the workforce development plan and SNA redeployment scheme; when these will be published; the consultation that has taken place in creating these documents; if they will genuinely reflect the reality of the role of an SNA in a modern educational environment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39683/26]

Deputy Eoghan Kenny

I ask colleagues to excuse my voice. I must be spending too much time talking in here. I wish to ask about the update of the revised 2014 SNA circular, the workforce development plan and the SNA redeployment scheme. When will these be published along with all of the consultation that has taken place in creating these documents, if any has? Will they genuinely reflect the reality of the role of a special needs assistant in a modern educational environment and in a modern classroom?

Minister for Education and Youth (Deputy Hildegarde Naughton)

I thank Deputy Kenny for his question. My Department is in the final stages of work on the first special needs assistant workforce development plan and associated documents. The plan provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and supporting SNAs, children with special educational needs and school communities. It will, through a co-created series of policy developments, strengthen, clarify and offer clear direction and consistency to the SNA workforce.

Significant research and collaboration have been undertaken in preparation of the plan. This includes significant engagement with focus groups of SNAs, students, school leaders and teachers as well as a national survey of SNAs. Published reports on each are available on the Government website.

The plan is also supported by collaborative working groups established for each of the five pillars of the work. Membership of these working groups include school management bodies; Fórsa, the trade union representing SNAs; school staff; the National Parents Council; and the Children’s Rights Alliance. The working groups examined every facet of the SNA role in 55 meetings with a view to enhancing support to children and young people with special educational needs.

The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, and I recently met with stakeholder representative groups and SNAs in a day-long engagement to discuss this important work and look at any outstanding gaps that may be within these documents.

The key outputs from the plan will include a new circular on the role of the SNA, an SNA redeployment scheme and a review of the SNA employment contract. I very much value the contribution of SNAs and the role they play in schools across the country to make sure the overall well-being of students and pupils is at the forefront of everything we are doing. I am pleased to confirm that the drafting of the plan, the circulars on the SNA role and the SNA redeployment scheme are at an advanced stage. I intend to publish them in the coming weeks.

Deputy Eoghan Kenny

That is very good. In the next couple of weeks before the Dáil summer recess, we can expect that the redeployment scheme, the revised 2014 circular and the workforce development plan will all be published and available to be viewed by all SNAs, educational stakeholders and politicians right across the country, and of course parents as well.

Consultation has obviously been extremely positive, and that is to be welcomed, as is the fact we are now at the final stages. It is not before time at all in relation to the workforce development plan and the redeployment scheme. I do not want to go over again what happened to SNAs at the beginning of 2026. The significant issue remains. I completely understand, as do SNAs, that redeployment has to take place but it has to be given to SNAs before any sort of correspondence is sent out to schools to say that the SNAs within the schools have to be redeployed.

It is positive that these will be published. Can the Minister put it on the record that they will be published before the summer?

Deputy Hildegarde Naughton

I thank the Deputy. I want to publish these documents within the coming weeks. They are at an advanced stage and they were codesigned with SNAs, stakeholders and advocacy groups. The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and I met with them all again recently. We did a day-long session looking at all of these documents to make sure we get this right. The new circular to replace Circulars 30/2014 and 71/2011 on the role of the SNA will be published. There will be an amalgamated circular published and a guidance document will be published for that as well. The redeployment of SNAs will be delivered by the NCSE and it will, for the first time, allow SNAs in posts that may no longer be required for reasons such as falling enrolments, reduced care needs and changing demographics to be redeployed. This is something SNAs have asked for as well. There has been significant engagement and it will be published. There is also an SNA hub online. It will be published there as well as on Government websites.

Deputy Eoghan Kenny

Very good. It is only positive that it will be published. It will give SNAs and school management right across the country greater clarity on how many SNAs they will be able to have in the school system. We also cannot lose clarity on the fact that we need to continue adding to our SNA workforce across the country. While I appreciate and fully accept that we have the highest number of SNAs we have ever had in our education system right now, needs are only growing right across our education system and the 4,000 schools we have nationwide. Needs are presenting far more than they previously were, which is only positive in one aspect because we are getting to the needs of children and providing them with the services. I am very hopeful - I am not asking the Minister to put it on the record but, rather, just to have it in the back of her head - that there will be a further allocation of SNAs in budget 2027.

Deputy Hildegarde Naughton

I should have said at the outset that we have more SNAs now than ever before. There were 24,896 SNAs in our schools. We will have over 26,000 this coming September. I absolutely know, as a former teacher, the value and the role of the SNA. I do not need to tell the Deputy, Members of this House or indeed parents or young children and students themselves who need the support of SNAs working with the class teacher, the special educational teacher and the school community. We intend to improve their conditions around training and we have been listening to SNAs themselves, who come from a wide variety of life experience and have a wide range of qualifications. We want to make sure that in the documents we are producing now, which are codesigned with them and the school communities, we are enabling them to get access to the training and giving them the redeployment benefits they wanted and have long sought, which is equivalent to teachers across the country.

School Staff

Darren O'Rourke

Ceist:

82. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide an update on the ongoing negotiations with school caretakers and school secretaries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40993/26]

Deputy Darren O'Rourke

I wish to ask the Minister to provide an update on the ongoing negotiations with school caretakers and secretaries.

Deputy Hildegarde Naughton

I thank the Deputy for his question. School secretaries and caretakers are at the heart of schools in this country and they are the key interface, as we all know, between students, parents, school leaders and other staff. Without them, our schools would be unsustainable, given the value of what they contribute, so supporting our school staff is an absolute priority.

My Department has been engaging with Fórsa and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation over the past number of months under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court in relation to a number of claims, including a claim for a comparable pension entitlement. The matter of comparable pension entitlement was referred to the Labour Court. The parties remain in process, and my Department remains committed to reaching a resolution on this very important matter. As with any industrial relations matters, where engagement is sensitive and complex, the matters under discussion are confidential until the process concludes.

I want to reassure the Deputy, from my perspective and that of the Government, of the value we place on our school secretaries and caretakers. It is absolutely imperative that we get this matter resolved.

Deputy Darren O'Rourke

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. The reason I raised this issue is because we are coming towards the end of the school year. This will be our last opportunity at priority questions before the school year ends. At the start of the school year, school secretaries and caretakers reluctantly went on strike outside schools in pursuit of pension parity. We could all see - I hope Government could see it, and it surely knows it - the level of public support, particularly within school communities, that there is for school secretaries and caretakers. Their claim is a just one. It is for pension parity. The deep concern at this stage - and I take on board every word of the Minister's response - is that time is moving on and these individuals, in some circumstances, are making decisions about when they will retire and be able to move on. Time is of the essence.

Deputy Hildegarde Naughton

I concur with everything the Deputy has said there. I met with the school secretaries and caretakers in my own constituency at the time. I know many of them. They are very familiar to me. They do not take going out on protests lightly. They did not want to be there. I heard that loud and clear and I recognise that a comparable pension entitlement and enhanced terms and conditions are, understandably, important objectives for our secretaries and caretakers. That is why my Department has been engaging with Fórsa over the past number of months under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court with the support and input of the Department of public expenditure and reform. Parties remain in that process and my Department remains committed to reaching a resolution on all these matters. As with any industrial relations process, I cannot comment on it.

By way of background, the Deputy may be aware an agreement was reached in 2022 that provided for the assimilation of school secretaries to a payroll administered by my Department, which has provided significant benefits in respect of pay and access to leave. We are committed to ensuring that grant-funded school caretakers will be afforded the opportunity to avail of an agreement similar to that offered to grant-funded school secretaries.

Deputy Darren O'Rourke

In this, I want to make the case for the Minister to play whatever helpful role she can with the parties involved to try to move things on and bring them to a successful resolution. We are aware of some of the issues at stake here: access, for example, to a public service pension scheme versus auto-enrolment versus a third, bespoke model. I will make a strong case, and I hope the Minister hears it and can pass it on to her ministerial colleagues.

There is a real concern that there will not be any recognition of years of dedicated contributions, and that, for example, those people who have longer service, fewer years left on their contracts and are closer retirement will be disadvantaged. It is important that any pension scheme recognises the years of dedicated service that people have given. This cannot be about a future scheme for new people coming into the job.

Deputy Hildegarde Naughton

Regarding secretaries and caretakers being given access to the single public service pension scheme, engagement, supported by the State's industrial relation bodies, has been ongoing. As with all industrial relations processes where engagement is sensitive and complex, discussions remain confidential.

My Department welcomed the commencement of the auto-enrolment retirement savings scheme, which is administered by the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority, NAERSA, in January. Responsibility for employer compliance with the scheme lies with NAERSA. Revenue provides payroll data to NAERSA, which uses this to identify and enrol eligible employees. Employers were required to complete their profile on the My Future Fund employer portal using their Revenue online services credentials before January this year, to ensure that they are compliant with their obligations under the legislation. Employers are required to ensure that their payroll systems are capable of calculating and submitting contributions and that employee contributions are matched in accordance with the scheme's requirements. It is important to note that all employers, regardless of their status, are required to comply with the legislation underpinning My Future Fund. The Department has enrolled approximately 2,000 eligible secretaries since 1 January this year.

School Enrolments

Jen Cummins

Ceist:

83. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth her plans to publish the number of children awaiting appropriate school places on a regular basis. [37945/26]

Deputy Jen Cummins

I would like to have a conversation about the Minister's plans to publish information on the number of children awaiting appropriate school places on a regular basis. This would be similar to how the relevant Department issues the homeless figures every month. It is in order to show transparency as to where the Department of education is with regard to being able to tell everybody how many children throughout the country do not have appropriate school places.

Deputy Michael Moynihan

The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has verified that 7,860 children and young people notified to it by 1 October 2025 meet the requirements for special classes or special school places for the 2026-27 school year. Further children came forward after that date, and this will continue right up to September. Approximately 7,000 of the 7,860 children in question and young people have a diagnosis of autism. There is generally an adequate number of available places for children and young people with other diagnoses. The focus, therefore, continues to be on providing new places for children and young people with autism. That data continues to be reviewed and analysed by the NCSE, which will continue to engage with families.

It is the experience of the NCSE that some families who contacted it may decide not to apply for a special education place. This may be where a place is not in a particular school of choice of where a student is already being supported appropriately in his or her existing school. Data available to the NCSE shows that approximately 75% of the children and young people who came forward by the 1 October deadline are already enrolled in school. As in previous years, the priority groups for access to specialist placements for the 2026-27 school year comprise those without school places, namely young children moving into primary school, children moving from primary to post-primary, children moving from one area to another or those who need to be accommodated where previous placements have broken down.

Budget 2026 initially provided for 3,000 new places. There are over 2,500 places available through the normal annual movement of students from primary to post-primary and finishing schools. The additional funding for which the Department received approval from the Government last month will allow us to provide further new specialised classes and special school places over and above the 3,000 new places already budgeted for. The NCSE can confirm that there are 546 new special classes for the next school year. I will come back to that point in my supplementary response.

Deputy Jen Cummins

I am delighted that there is portal methodology and all of that. It will allow us to get a handle on what the picture is. In the context of children who have not yet got a placement, the question remains as whether the schools involved need new buildings. If they do, how long will that take? Where will the children involved be housed or educated while that is happening? Did the Minister of State have to use his powers under section 37 to ensure that schools open appropriate places? We still do not know what the number is. I could use the power of deduction. I am not great at maths, but it would be really helpful if we knew what that number was.

Why did the Minister of State refer to the number who applied as opposed to the number who do not have places? Anecdotally, there are children who do not have appropriate school places. Why are parents applying via the portal? I know they have to notify the Department, but is there a box on that portal that they can tick to indicate that they do not need a place and are fine or do they have to trawl through the whole thing, which creates a lot of difficulty? Would it be better to have a box for them to indicated that they do not need a place and are just letting the Department know their child has an additional need?

Deputy Michael Moynihan

Over 80% of the 546 new special classes that have been sanctioned to date are located in existing buildings. We are working extensively on this. We are acutely aware of where additional accommodation has to be made available. That is a factor in how fast we can put a class in place. We take a number of issues into account when we talk about new special classes. These include the need in an area to have the class as close to the children as possible. Since 1 October, the portal has given us great insight into the level of need that exists. When parents indicate on the portal that their children have special education requirements, it behoves the Department and the NCSE to reach out and understand the need of the families involved. The important piece is the fieldwork and groundwork that are taking place between the special educational needs organisers, SENOs, and families to understand the need that exists and parents' concerns.

We used one section 37A procedure last year. We are continuing to engage with schools and school communities to ensure that we use the minimum number necessary.

Deputy Jen Cummins

It is good to hear that the Minister of State is using section 37A. It is important that all schools take their fair share of caring for children in their communities, particularly in areas where there might be a high number of fee-paying schools. If it is a fee-paying school that is located nearest to a child, the child also needs to be given a place. It is the same with every school. As we move towards a model where the local school is where the child goes, we still have a long way to go to get there. I am glad that the portal is creating options for parents to know what the situation is, because that was the whole plan the Department had. I am glad it is working out. I would obviously like more information, particularly as I am in opposition and am contacted by so many people. If the Department has a handle on this and is able to work with every family, it gives me great solace coming into the summer to know that every family will have a place for their child come September and that if a school building is not ready or there are glitches, there is a plan.

Deputy Michael Moynihan

The Minister and I are acutely aware of the issue. The Minister has experience of this because in the previous Dáil, she held the position I currently occupy. When the numbers come through from the portal, we are acutely aware that we need to make sure that we have an appropriate number of places.

A total of 407 extra special classes were announced in 2025. We have 546 today. Between 2025 and 2026, we will have over 1,000 special classes across the country. We have inclusive special classes, with 15 at primary level and 32 at post-primary level, which are being welcomed in the community. It is important that the portal allows the parent or guardian to notify the Department of a child with additional needs. The NCSE has to work through that and engage with the families. We also have to engage with school communities. A huge volume of work is happening with in the Department and the NCSE at all times across the year. There are bodies in schools to make sure that we are doing the right thing. We have a lot of capacity this year. We are working through every family and every requirement.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Thursday, 28 May 2026