Special Educational Needs
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-23
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Eoghan Kenny (LAB), Cork North-Central

There are also a lot of parents who know their children need a special class or special school placement and they do not know whether their child will get a school place. The memo sent to the Government did not only relate to special education, but it must have included the number of children who require a special class or special school placement. The Department knows that figure. The NCSE has told me that every Friday it informs the Department of the number of children who still require a special class or special school placement. Does the Minister know that figure? Does she know how many classes will be needed for the coming academic year? At the end of the day, there are parents outside the Chamber who are contacting every TD's office saying they have contacted 20, 30 or 40 schools about a school place for their child. This is an extremely important issue for their children. It needs to be put on the record of the Dáil that the Minister for education is aware of the specific number of children who require a special class placement, the number of classes that will be needed for the coming academic year and whether the Department will match the level of demand.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-23