Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 January 2026
1111. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of children in County Mayo currently registered to start school in September 2026 that are seeking a special school place; seeking a special class/unit place; or expected to attend a mainstream school with SNA support; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74579/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis 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.
Through the accelerated provision of additional special class and special school places over recent years, there are now over 30,000 students enrolled in special classes and special schools. 2,700 new places were created for the 2025/26 school year and these, together with the over 1,200 existing places due to students moving on from primary schools and post-primary schools, has meant that close to 4,000 specialist places were made available for the 2025/26 school year.
407 new special classes were sanctioned for the 2025/26 school year. Of these, 3 are in County Mayo at primary level. This brings to 76 the number of special classes currently in operation in the county. There are also 4 special schools in County Mayo with approximately 161 students enrolled.
In order to support the NCSE and forward planning my department published Circular 0039/2025. This circular informs school management and patrons of measures introduced to support forward planning and reiterates the need for parents to inform the NCSE through the Parent Notify process that they are seeking a special educational placement for their child.
The NCSE advise that the majority of children and young people coming to them through the Parent’s Notify process are already enrolled in school supported by existing special education teachers and special needs assistants.
I am happy to advise that the NCSE have this week formally sanctioned 168 (105 primary and 63 post-primary) new special classes in 159 schools across the country for the next school year 2026/2027. This is the first tranche of new special classes being sanctioned and is a number of months ahead of last year. The NCSE expect to continue to sanction further new special classes over the coming weeks. The earlier sanctioning of these classes will provide clarity for parents and allow schools more time for the planning and establishment of new special classes. Details of the new special classes are available on the NCSE website.
Parents are free to apply for enrolment for their child in a school of their choice. Enrolments to schools are a matter for each board of management and parents apply directly to schools, therefore, the information requested by the Deputy is held at a local level.
Special needs allocation (SNA) posts are allocated to schools as a school-based resource. Principals/board of managements deploy SNAs within schools to meet the care support requirements of the students enrolled whom SNA support has been allocated. Details of SNA allocations to schools are available on the NCSE website.
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.
