Special Educational Needs
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-23
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Neale Richmond (FG), Dublin Rathdown

I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising this pertinent issue, which is one that resonates with many of us in the House in many regards. I am replying on behalf of the Minister.
It is the policy of the Department of Education and Youth, in accordance with the principles of inclusive education, that students with additional learning needs are supported in mainstream classes, along with their peers, with additional supports provided as necessary. The Department has invested considerably in ensuring that all recognised mainstream schools have been allocated additional special education teaching resources to support children with special educational needs, including students with literacy difficulties. Guidelines for schools on the organisation, deployment and use of their special education teachers have been published on the Department's website. There are 15,000 special education teachers allocated to primary and post-primary schools to enable them to support children with special educational needs. I know that, as my wife is one.
The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has the responsibility for planning and co-ordinating school supports for children with special educational needs. The Department does not have a role in making individual school determinations.
Funding is also made available to schools for the purchase of specialised equipment such as computers or software to assist children with special educational needs, including children with specific learning disability, where relevant professionals recommend the equipment as being essential for the provision of education. Schools apply to the NCSE through their local special educational needs organiser, SENO, for such support.
A continuum of education provision is in place covering the full range of need spanning placement in mainstream classes, with supports through to more specialist placements either in a special class or a special school, depending on the complexity of need.
It is important to note, though, that the majority of students with literacy difficulties currently receive additional teaching support from a special education teacher in a mainstream class. This is provided on the basis of the individual student's learning needs identified in schools, as opposed to being based on a requirement for a child to have a diagnosis or an assessment of a particular disability.
There are four schools dedicated to supporting students with specific learning disability, SLD. There are also 14 SLD classes in 11 mainstream primary schools located across the country, in counties Dublin, Clare, Louth, Galway, Kerry and Wexford, although, I acknowledge, not in Dublin Mid-West. These settings have a student-teacher ratio of 9:1 and are attended by students normally aged between eight and 12 years for a maximum of two years. Students will have a diagnosis of dyslexia and score at the 2% percentile or lower on literacy standardised tests. They will also have an average or above average level of intelligence.
In May 2021, the inspectorate was requested by the Department's special education section to evaluate provision in special classes for children and young people with an SLD. The purpose of the evaluations was to examine the quality of provision for children and young people with an SLD, with particular reference to understanding the placement of children and young people in these classes and to identifying the strengths and areas for improvement in learning and teaching in these classes. The inspectorate's report will inform the Department's development of policy and the overall effectiveness of SLD classes in the context of emerging international trends for inclusion. This is an area that the Minister is keeping under close review.
The Minister is also working on a new measure which will see the provision of enhanced supports in mainstream schools for students experiencing literacy difficulties.
The Minister hopes to be in a position to update the House on this soon. The Minister and the Department of education will continue to consider the findings and recommendations of the inspectorate report and may in time request the inspectorate to review provision for children with specific learning disabilities, SLDs, in special schools. I undertake to ask the Minister to engage directly with the Deputy given his interest in the area.

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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