Special Educational Needs
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-23
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Hildegarde Naughton (FG), Galway West

As I said, 7,860 parents were notified to the NCSE before 1 October. There are more who are still engaging with that process so I secured extra funding for the roll-out of further special classes. Some parents are still waiting for reports or recommendations and some parents might not be aware that their child may require a special class. However, I reassure those parents and families that they will be supported in seeking a placement in a school.
Some 240,000 children who have additional needs are supported in mainstream settings. The Deputy will be aware that the NCSE began sanctioning new special classes in January this year, which was several months earlier than last year. Some 427 classes have been sanctioned to date, with an additional five inclusive classes. In addition, there are 139 special schools, including seven schools attached to hospitals and three schools attached to CAMHS units, with approximately 9,817 pupils enrolled in those 139 schools. These numbers will evolve over the next few months. If parents engage with the NCSE, it is the role of the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and I to ensure they have-----

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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