Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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132. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the additional capacity that will be provided to a school (details supplied) in order to increase the number of children to be able to attend this special school for the 2025-2026 school term. [45643/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department is not in receipt of a current application for the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, from the school in question.

The purpose of my Department’s ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation or at other schools in the area.

At primary level, this situation generally arises to cater for a school’s accommodation requirements where an additional teaching post has been sanctioned by Teacher Allocation Section, or the requirement for a new class for pupils with special education needs has been identified by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), and all available alternative accommodation within the school is already being used for classroom purposes.

The NCSE has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs nationwide. Over the last two years, the department and the NCSE have worked closely on a more streamlined and joined up planning process which has ensured a targeted approach to meet demand for special education placements ahead of each new school year. The Department continues to work with the NCSE in relation to the short-term requirements for special class and special school places and also the more strategic and longer-term requirements.

It is my department’s priority to ensure that all children have an appropriate school placement and that the necessary supports are provided to our schools to cater for the needs of children with special educational needs.

In 2024, the department will spend over €2.7 billion on special education and further progress will be made in 2025 as an additional €159 million has been dedicated to providing supports for children with special educational needs. Over a quarter of the entire education budget has been dedicated to special education in recent years. The main supports this funding provides for are special classes, SNAs and special education teachers.

The NCSE has advised that there are 3,337 special classes in operation nationwide for this school year. These classes can provide for over 21,000 students. 409 of these are new for the current school year – 289 at primary and 120 at post-primary level.

Over the last number of years, the department and the NCSE have introduced a number of strategic initiatives to plan for and provide sufficient mainstream, special class and special school places.

These initiatives are bearing fruit with almost 1,700 new special classes sanctioned and eleven new special schools established over the last number of years. The department engages intensely with the NCSE in relation to the forward planning of new special classes and additional special school places to ensure every child has a place in an educational setting best fitting their educational need. This forward planning work is well underway ahead of the 2025/26 school year. This work involves a detailed review of statistical data in relation to forecasting demand for special class places, an analysis of available school accommodation, consideration of improved data sharing arrangements and a particular focus on the provision of special classes at post-primary.

I want to assure you that the department will continue to support the NCSE and schools through the provision of the necessary funding and capital investment to ensure all children are successful in accessing an education appropriate to their needs.