An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-12
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

I think what we need is all of our officials in the Department working flat out to make sure that every child gets an appropriate place next September. That is where we need staff deployed. We do not need new units to start producing data. There is a balance to be struck in terms of the deployment of public servants. We are increasing the number of public servants on an annual basis. The increase has been significant over the last number of years. To be fair to the Minister, Hildegarde Naughton, and the Minister of State, Michael Moynihan, their focus has been very much on securing additional resources and working with the National Council for Special Education to get the places. They opened the portal early in October. That has resulted in far more significant numbers. I think about 6,000 children in existing mainstream classes have now been identified as needing additionality in terms of supports. That is happening. The Department is flat out on that with the NCSE.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-12/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-12