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

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.

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Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:34+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-29