Special Educational Needs
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-21
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Michael Moynihan (FF), Cork North-West

I cannot accept that there is overcrowding. We are looking at how best to ensure teachers, SNAs and support teams are in place to encourage students and to make sure we are as inclusive as possible. Not every student can be mainstreamed but we need to make sure that where it is possible we have the best possible support in place. It is also taking a child with special educational needs through primary school and post-primary school and equipping them as best we can for life after school as well. That is the premise. There are challenges. We are putting in a huge amount of money - over €5 billion has been put into the school building programmes over the past number of years. In the coming years, €7.55 billion is to be put into it. We are working closely with school communities. The Senator mentioned a number of schools in her area. I can reassure her we are working with them. Our aim is to make sure we have special education provision in every community as locally as possible for the needs of the child and families into the future.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-21