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

The Government is committed to the continued accelerated provision of additional special classes and special school places for 2026-27. The National Council for Special Education is the statutory body tasked with sanctioning new special education provision in our schools. The NCSE has sanctioned 432 new special classes nationally, including 102 new special classes in Dublin, for the next school year 2026-27, with more to follow in the coming weeks. This is a number of months ahead of last year and provides for greater certainty for families and more time for schools to plan for the establishment of new special classes. I commend every school, including the school referred to by the Deputy, that expresses an interest in opening a new special class. As the Deputy knows, I visited the school last year and I know the good work the staff do in supporting children with additional needs. This school is already supporting three special classes. The focus for the Department and the NCSE is working to provide new special classes in medium and larger primary schools with none or just one special class.
The school received a new building comprising 16 mainstream classrooms and a two-class SEN base in 2023. A recently received application for two special education needs modular classrooms under the additional school accommodation, ASA, scheme is currently under consideration. However, as this is a relatively new school building, the Department expects the school to prioritise utilisation of all existing capacity in the first instance. Resources are available to support schools who have children who have needs beyond those catered for within the special classes. I ask the school to continue to engage with the NCSE on accessing those supports. The council is also engaging with parents in the locality and in the surrounding areas to ensure there is a range of provision available, including in Stapolin National School. My Department and the council will continue to keep the matter under review.

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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