2026-01-29

Before I outline my Topical Issue, from speaking to Deputy Butterly, I am aware that Mr. Brady, one of her former teachers, is with the group from Dundalk Grammar School. He is particularly welcome. It is always a pleasure when our former teachers get a chance to come here. It is lovely to see that group here as well. I wish to address issues relating to special education needs. I will begin by acknowledging the extraordinary investment made in this area. A total of 268 classes have been announced in recent times, including for Carysfort National School, Blackrock and St. Mary’s Boys’ National School, Booterstown. Those two schools will benefit on foot of those announcements. I pay tribute to the teachers in those schools because they are the ones who put in place the process that leads to these grants being awarded and that allows the classes to happen. The classes not only benefit the children in the schools, but, perhaps most importantly, they benefit everyone in Ireland in the long run. One of the most important things about a special education needs, SEN, place is that it gives equal opportunity to children who have difficulties or disadvantages they need to overcome. It puts in place a system that allows them to compete on an equal footing with everyone else in their class. This is important because it is not that these children cannot achieve their educational potential; they can, but we need to do that bit extra to ensure they do. I specifically acknowledge what has been done in St. Anne's National School, Shankill, to arrange a SEN place. Again, teachers are working hard to get grants to allow these things to happen. I pay particular tribute to Mr. John Fingleton, the principal of the school who is on secondment at the moment, and Ms Paula Kelly, who is acting in his stead while he is away, for the extraordinary and hugely important work they have done. While acknowledging the work that has been done, I raise this issue is because I have been in touch with two families in the Shankill area whose respective daughter and son have been told, in no uncertain terms, that there will not be a SEN place available for them next September. While I do not in any way seek to denigrate the work to which I refer, I want to know what happens to the children who fall between the cracks. What happens when children are told there is no place for them and that when they go to school next September, they will not be able to avail of the accommodations and assistance they need to achieve their full potential? What are we doing for those children? What are we doing if we are allowing them to fall between the cracks? What is the long-term impact for them and for us? I am sure this is repeated in other constituencies, districts, towns and villages throughout the country. There must be others. There cannot just be two children in Shankill who are being placed at a disadvantage. Think of all those children as they go up through the school system. I acknowledge that, in general, we have an exceptional educational system. In the context of metrics relating to literacy, numeracy or achievement, schoolchildren here do very well on global indexes. If we repeat this instance in towns all over the country, then it is obvious that there are children who are not getting the opportunity to achieve and compete on an equal footing. That damages us all in the long term because they fall behind over the process of a long school career up to the age of 18 and the leaving certificate. They do not have the same opportunities as their peers in the classroom, and that is simply not fair or reasonable. We need to redouble our efforts to ensure that no children fall between the cracks. We need to ensure there are SEN places for all those who need them. These families have done everything asked of them. They have obtained the assessments and made the applications, not just to the schools they are in but to other schools in their areas to find out whether places are available. The answer they are getting is that places are not available. I heard what the Minister said in replies to parliamentary questions to the effect that this is an ongoing process. I welcome and accept that. In these two cases, as I understand it, they have been told definitively that they will not have places in September. Not only is that hugely upsetting for the parents involved, it is also hugely disadvantageous for their children as well. What can we say to them about the SEN places they need for September?

On the individual case, I strongly urge the Deputy to give the details to me or directly to the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan. The Government is committed to the provision of additional special places for children with special educational needs. There is funding, as I said previously, for 3,000 new specialist places and the NCSE today is currently examining where those are best located for the 2026-27 school year. We now have 3,741 special classes around the country, and we will build on this figure. The determination from the Minister and the NCSE is to place them where kids need them. That work is still ongoing. In County Dublin, we have 705 special classes providing capacity for 4,230 kids. This includes 103 new special classes opened in Dublin in this current school year, of which 81 are at primary level. In addition, 16 new special schools have been established in recent years. There are 40 special schools in Dublin and two of the five special schools opened this year are in Dublin. These schools are supported by the Department and the NCSE. In budget 2026, funding for 3,000 new special educational places has been provided. The NCSE is currently examining where they are needed in order that children can avail of their constitutional right to free primary education. In order to ensure new special classes can open as quickly as possible, the NCSE prioritises working with medium and larger primary schools that do not already have special classes and that have accommodation available to facilitate new special classes. This approach maximises the use of existing space which can be reconfigured efficiently while also ensuring that new provision continues to be established. It also increases the number of schools with special classes, providing parents with greater choice and reducing the distances that some students are forced to travel to get a school place. However, as in other years, where schools have no accommodation available, particularly at second level, and where there is known demand in an area, the Department will continue to provide additional classroom accommodation to provide necessary places. The Department and the NCSE continue to work closely with school patron bodies, school management bodies and schools to confirm new special classes for the 2026-27 school year. The NCSE began sanctioning new special classes this month, which is several months ahead of last year. A total of 263 have been sanctioned to date. Many more new special classes will be confirmed in the coming weeks. The earlier sanctioning of new classes is good because it provides better – not perfect but better – clarity than parents previously had. The vast majority of new special classes announced are being provided in available school accommodation that is being reconfigured for a special class. New special classes are being established in every county, with 58 new special classes confirmed for Dublin so far. Further information on additional new special classes will be confirmed in the coming weeks. It is envisaged that schools will open admissions for those new special classes after the sanctioning. I stress the NCSE will continue to support all children made known to it. Of course, it is critical that the NCSE has timely access to local knowledge to plan future provision.

I endorse everything the Minister of State said regarding the figures and the numbers. I acknowledged at the outset that the recent tranches have delivered 268 classes. All of that is extremely welcome. Ms Paula Kelly of St. Anne's's National School in Shankhill and Mr. John Fingleton, the permanent principal, have done the forecasting for the school in terms of what is needed. That is why the school has made its applications. Ms Kelly and Mr. Fingleton deserve credit for that. Similarly, Naomi Russo in Rathmhichael Parish National School or the teachers in Scoil Mhuire, Shankill, have a view of what they need in the future. Notwithstanding all of that, we still have a situation where we have children with no SEN class available to them for next September. Honestly, it is not good enough. What measures is the Department taking to take stock of what is going to be required in the future? How is it going to guarantee that it will meet the demand? How is it going to say to the two families I mentioned earlier that this will not happen and that it will supply a class or a space for them in September? As I said, they have bent over backwards doing what is expected of them. They have got the assessments for the their son and daughter, respectively, and made applications to multiple schools, but they are still getting a point-blank “No” from the Department. The Department is not saying that out of malice or anything of that nature. Rather, the reality is that places are not available. As a political body, we must ensure that the Department does not have to send out such responses. We must ensure that the answer is “Yes” when people provide documentary evidence that their child needs additional support. What forecasting is the Department carrying out, whether it is in respect of Shankill or anywhere else, in order to determine the number of places needed in the next two, three or ten years? What is it doing to ensure that the capacity is there to put in place those classes in the context of both the physical infrastructure and the human resources needed? How can we guarantee other families in Shankill that they will not be in this situation next year or the year after?

We have to guarantee those places for children. The Government is acutely conscious of that. Work is ongoing to ensure that this guarantee, which, in my view, derives from the Constitution, is fulfilled for every child who needs a school place. The Department continues to engage intensively with the NCSE to forward plan for new special provision to get a place for every single child in the setting that best suits their needs. The NCSE is continuing to engage with a large number of schools across Dublin in the context of sanctioning further new special classes for the coming school year. While there was an announcement some weeks ago, there is still a lot of work going on. That was the first batch of them and there will be further batches. The Department and the NCSE have been working on this earlier in the year and I welcome what the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, has done in this regard because it gives more certainty. It is not perfect but there is more information available and at an earlier stage than was the case previously. Again, I have no doubt that the Department and the NCSE will be out with further announcements in the next few weeks. In the meantime, if Deputies Wall and Ward wish to engage directly with the Minister of State in relation to those particular individuals, I am sure he would very much welcome that.