Parliamentary questions

100. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of schools that experienced reductions in special education teacher hours; the total number of hours reduced; the number of appeals lodged; the number of appeals upheld, by county and by year for the past three years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22671/26]

101. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if her Department has conducted an impact assessment of repeated reductions in special education teacher hours on student learning outcomes and inclusion; if she will publish the findings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22672/26]

102. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will ring-fence administrative time during the school day for principals to complete child protection oversight reports, maintain records of concerns raised, and complete statutory annual reviews and mandatory reports, so that these obligations do not displace teaching time; and if she will make a statement on the matter. […

103. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of special education teachers employed each year since 2020; the number of posts created, reduced, or removed; the number of teachers redeployed or reassigned; the number of schools that gained or lost special education teaching hours, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22674/26]

104. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will initiate a review of National Council for Special Education decision-making in relation to special education teacher allocations and the appeals framework, with a view to improving transparency, timeliness, and school engagement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22677/26]

105. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide standardised, simplified guidance and a support helpline for schools preparing appeals for special education teacher allocations, and to minimise duplication of evidence requested across stages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22678/26]

106. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide a breakdown of schools that were successful in the Anseo attendance programme; if a geographic spread was achieved; and if the Pobal deprivation index was used in the selection of successful schools. [22679/26]

107. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether professional educational or psychological assessments, including diagnoses of dyslexia or specific learning difficulties, are taken into account alongside standardised spelling test scores when determining eligibility for a spelling, grammar and punctuation waiver under the SEC RACE scheme; if her Department has considered …

108. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Education and Youth if a Departmental review of the current threshold-based eligibility process for spelling and grammar waivers in State examinations, including the use of a fixed standardised spelling score cut-off, is being considered to ensure it reflects the needs of students with diagnosed learning difficulties; whether an appeals or discretiona…

109. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Education and Youth the steps her Department is taking to address the shortage of specialist reading classes for children with severe dyslexia in Galway (details supplied); whether her Department has evaluated the impact on children who are recommended for such provision by educational psychologists but cannot access a place; and if she will make a st…

110. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Education and Youth considering the approval of additional reading classes for children with severe dyslexia in east Galway to meet the demonstrated need in the area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22715/26]

111. Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Education and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 818 of 18 March 2026, if she will further respond to correspondence received (details supplied) in relation to a school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22716/26]

112. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Education and Youth the rationale for maintaining the requirement of a minimum grade of C2 in higher level Irish for entry to Professional Master of Education programmes in primary teaching, given that applicants who took A Level Irish in Northern Ireland meet this requirement with a grade C, and that applicants may have failed higher level English or…

113. Deputy Micheál Carrigy asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the progress of the SNA classroom project for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22752/26]

114. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of school days at primary level that were not covered by a qualified substitute teacher. [22767/26]

115. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 858 of 18 March 2026, whether there is any exception for people in receipt of enhanced medical cards; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22778/26]

116. Deputy Ann Graves asked the Minister for Education and Youth the options open to a family (details supplied) attempting to secure a school place for their five-year-old child. [22779/26]

117. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Education and Youth the position regarding a situation (details supplied) which has arisen in a number of schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22782/26]

118. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the new admissions to special school policy outlined on 9 December 2025; whether this will be in place for the 2026/2027 school year; who the decision maker will be on admission to special school, and category of school suitable for a child who has not received an assessment of need. [22787/26]

119. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether every school on the school therapists pilot project will automatically transfer to the education therapy support programme; whether these will retain existing staff on transfer; and whether these staff will reapply for their roles through the NCSE. [22789/26]

120. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether the recently revised assessment of need framework limits or reduces access to cognitive assessment for children, including in cases where intellectual disability is not suspected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22837/26]

121. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Education and Youth how the revised assessment of needs framework ensures that children with uneven developmental profiles, including those who may be gifted or twice-exceptional (that is, children with both high ability and additional needs such as autism, ADHD or dyslexia), will be appropriately identified within the system; and if she wil…

122. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether her Department has conducted any impact assessment on how the revised assessment of needs model may affect the identification of children whose needs are masked by high cognitive ability or compensatory functioning; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22841/26]

123. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Education and Youth the safeguards that are in place to prevent under-identification of such children, particularly in light of evidence that twice-exceptional children are already under-recognised within education and disability services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22843/26]

124. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Education and Youth if access to cognitive or psychological assessment remains available where there is evidence of significant intra-individual discrepancy, asynchronous development, or unexplained underachievement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22845/26]