2026-06-11

I thank the Minister of State for being here to take this Topical Issue. I will talk specifically about a school but a school that illustrates a broader problem. I will refer to one school but I am referring to a broader issue with the school summer programme. There was a delay, and the Minister of State is aware of this, in releasing the programme. Only in the past few weeks have schools been able to apply. I will speak about Gaelscoil Baile Brigín. It applied for two special classes and three mainstream classes, which is what it had applied for previously. Previously it had four mainstream groups with six students. This year it applied for three groups of 12 because that was what was in the guidelines. The Department has said there must be at least 12 students in each group, with only one SNA and one teacher. This is a problem from the get-go because that will not be enough staff. This is a big increase in the number of students without any allowance for a reduction in group size or for students with complex needs. Additional staff are not being made available for students who have additional needs and who are accommodated for those needs. That does not make any sense because these are kids who have an SNA in their classroom every single day. Their needs do not change. Just because it is the summer, their needs do not change and they certainly do not decrease at any particular time in the calendar. If they are entitled to an SNA, they should have one. At the very least, they should have something that is similar. The school has raised issues. It applied for three groups but was only sanctioned for two. This leaves the school community, the principal, the deputy principal and the staff in an awful position because they have to go back to parents and tell them that for reasons they do not know, they are not able to accommodate their kids. It is a horrible decision for the school community to have to make. Nobody wants to make lists when everyone on the list has a need and should have an entitlement to access the programme. The school now has to cut students from the programme, which is really awful. What did the school do? It certainly did not sit around and do nothing. It made massive efforts to contact the Department by email and phone. It has not had any response. I get it because changes are being made, and I understand the Department is busy and under pressure. This is not meant to be disrespectful to the people who are answering the phones, who I know are doing their best. Unfortunately, the school cannot get an answer so now it has to speak to the parents of the children who possibly will not be able to be accommodated. When the parents ask why this is happening the school does not know because nobody will tell it. I sincerely hope these changes, which the Minister of State might try to dress up as some class of reform, are not being driven by the massive overspend in the Department, which I can tell him is not the fault of any of the parents or the teachers. I am looking for a few very simple things. Will the Minister of State get me an explanation as to why Gaelscoil Baile Brigín and other schools were only sanctioned a reduced number of classes? Will he convey to the Minister the frustration of the teaching community at this last-minute decision-making? Months and months of planning go into getting ready for this. Will he explain why the changes are being brought in? If they are being driven by money, then he needs to tell us. Will he please ask the Department to reply to Gaelscoil Baile Brigín and those other schools waiting on answers? Will he confirm that home-based tuition will be available for the children who are going to be inevitably left out? Will he advise why there is no appeal? Will he clarify the number of SNAs that will be available per class?

I thank Deputy O'Reilly very much for her series of questions. I know her interest in this area and she has been a strong advocate, not just for specific schools in her area but also for the educational needs of children. The Government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the programme for Government makes several commitments to deliver on this objective. The summer programme is a vital and targeted intervention that is specifically designed for children with complex special educational needs or those at risk of educational disadvantage. While it is delivered during the summer months, it is an educational programme and should not be viewed as a replacement for recreational summer camps. Since 2021, the Department of Education and Youth's inspectorate has evaluated the programme annually. Its findings consistently highlight the programme's positive impact on the many children and young people who have taken part, with parents, staff and the children themselves reporting improvements in confidence, attitude and readiness to return to school in September. Deputy O'Reilly has asked a series of questions. I do not have all of the answers but I will ask the Department to communicate directly with her and the school on the specifics and I will speak on the general point.

That is fair enough. I thank the Minister of State.

The original intention and the continued emphasis of the summer programme is to mitigate the impact of learning loss on those children while schools are closed. An increase in special educational needs prevalence rates, particularly of autism, and the presentation of children with more complex needs has meant that the summer programme is more important than ever. Details of the summer programme were communicated to schools and stakeholders in early May. While it is acknowledged that the details of the programme are typically announced earlier, the Department continually kept in touch with stakeholders querying when the summer programme might be announced to ensure they understood that it would be forthcoming and that schools should start their preparations. As a result, the online application portals for both the school-based and the home-based programmes were opened from 6 May to 15 May. The Minister, Deputy Naughton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, listened to the concerns of schools that wanted to apply after the deadline, and the application portals were reopened from 2 to 5 June. Details on this reopening were communicated to all schools on Thursday, 29 May 2026. The summer programme has been well established for several years, so even though there was a shorter window for applications, schools were prepared in advance. The Department subsequently received more applications for the school-based scheme this year than were run in 2025, with increases across primary, post-primary and special schools. In addition, the number of home-based applications has significantly increased on last year. Officials in the Department have been engaging with schools on an individual basis in relation to the running of their summer programme. Schools have now received their sanction letters with their staffing allocation. This allocation is based on the number of children who are taking part in accordance with the published terms and conditions of the programme. Schools can engage with the Department if they have unique circumstances that require additional resources, and the Department will work with these schools on an individual basis to ensure that they can meet the needs of the children taking part. I believe this is what Deputy O'Reilly is asking, with regard to having a child-centric approach. Equally, it is acknowledged that there are some children with complex special educational needs whose school is not running a school-based programme or a place on the school-based programme is not available. In this instance, these children can avail of the home-based provision which allows for tuition or care support to be provided on a one-to-one basis or in a small group setting. I hope this response outlines the general position to some extent. We will certainly try to ensure the Department comes back to Deputy O'Reilly with greater detail.

That would be very welcome. The Minister of State said, and we agree on this, that the programme has a positive impact on the many children and young people who have taken part, and that parents, staff and the children themselves report improvements in confidence, attitude and readiness to return to school in September. There is nothing wrong with that. It is fantastic and a sign of something that is working. It is very natural and normal that I would come in the House and say, on behalf of my constituents, that if we all agree something is a good idea, that it should be happening and that there is a benefit for the children and the school community, then I have to circle back to my original question on why it is being cut. Why are there going to be kids who are attending Gaelscoil Baile Brigín who will be told, although I hope not because I hope when the Department looks at it that it will change it, that they may not have a place? They may not, though, have a place, when the Minister of State himself acknowledged that this is a programme that works. It is a decent programme that the kids and the school community benefit from. It should not be this hard for the teachers and the school community to be able to access something where there is no disagreement. The Department says it is a good idea. The teachers say it is a good idea. The parents say it is a good idea. The kids clearly benefit from it. When all of these things come together, then I am left asking: why I am standing here asking for this to work when it has worked previously? I have given a list of detailed questions. It was not my intention to blindside the Minister of State with them, but I hope that he will bring these to the attention of the Minister and get some answers not just for the school but also for the parents and the students. It is very hard to have to tell the students that they may not be accepted for the programme when they previously benefited from it. I do not want the school community, teachers, principal and deputy principals to be put into that position, and I am sure the Minister of State does not either.

I thank the Deputy very much. As I indicated, there has been a significant increase in demand for both school-based and home-based tuition during those months. From a departmental perspective, it does take a little bit of time to iron out all of that. I will ask the Department to communicate directly on his specific questions and that, perhaps, there be a level of engagement between it and the school so that the school does not have to be at loggerheads or not have all the information available to it that it would need to take whatever actions it has to in the coming months. If that flow of information does not happen, I ask the Deputy to come back to me and I will be happy to follow through on it for her.

Go raibh maith agat.