Special Educational Needs
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-23
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Michael Moynihan (FF), Cork North-West

I thank the Deputy for his question. In 2024, the then Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion established a task force to support the forward planning of special education provision in the Dublin 15 area. I thank all of the task force members, including parents representatives, school principals, school patron representatives and representatives of the HSE, the NCSE and officials from the Departments of children and education, for their work through the school year 2024-2025 in discussing the key issues relating to special education provision. The task force met on ten separate occasions. The key aims of the task force were to advise on how to better plan for the provision of special education places in Dublin 15 for the 2025-2026 school year and beyond, examine better ways to establish the level of need in the area, advise on how special education places can be provided and to examine how a common application system can be established to reduce the burden on parents applying to multiple schools.
The task force that supports forward planning of special education provision in the Dublin 15 area submitted its report late last year. The report sets out 21 key recommendations. I am happy that work is progressing in relation to meeting some of the key recommendations of the task force. A new education therapy service is being established. Additional funding has been secured for capitation for schools, with a particular focus on special schools. The State, as set out in the NDP launch earlier this year, is making significant capital funding available to our schools. I am happy to confirm that the report will be published very shortly.

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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