Special Educational Needs
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-29
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Thomas Byrne (FF), Meath East

The Department has information about children and is going through that information. It has not come to any final decision and there will be quite a few more announcements to be made. It is about the children and their constitutional right to be educated, which we are proud to have in this country. It needs to be implemented and the Department and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, work every day of the week to execute and implement that right. The Department continues to engage with the NCSE. The vast majority of students with special educational needs get supported to attend school in mainstream classes with their peers. We have 15,000 special education teachers in Ireland and 12,500 special needs assistants. It is a huge number of people. For children with more complex needs, special classes or special school places are provided. This is in keeping with our policy on inclusive education, which promotes that children will be supported to receive an education in the most inclusive setting. The NCSE advises that a small number of places remain available in some other counties. That is simply a fact and the NCSE remains available to provide advice and support to all families seeking a placement and will continue to examine where provision is required for the 2026-2027 year so that this can be done right and the right decisions can be made as to where children are, and where those classes are needed. I have no doubt that every single offer from a school to provide a class is taken with the utmost seriousness in the Department. The Department will have to make sure the children are there in those areas. That process is still under way and is by no means concluded.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:34+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-29