School Admissions
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-12
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Hildegarde Naughton (FG), Galway West

The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is doing great work on the special education side of the Department. That 1 October deadline is now moving. With regard to the data coming to the NCSE, it is getting notifications of requests and the need for special classes and special school places earlier. We absolutely acknowledge that the demand is increasing, and we are responding to that. The education budget for special education is now €3 billion. We will continue to work, both the Minister of State and I, with the NCSE, parents and schools to ensure that children get the places they require in a timely manner.
With regard to the common application process, we are getting feedback, including positive feedback that I have received from schools. There are issues but that is always the way with a pilot scheme. We need to be able to recognise the issues and try to unravel them and help schools. The 80% customer effort feedback was very positive.
Department officials are currently conducting more detailed post-product evaluation lessons and they will be integrated into the new phase. We are in a learning phase with the common application process. We want to take the stress away from parents so they do not have to be applying to numerous schools. We have to take a transparent and fair approach in this regard, working with school management bodies.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-12/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:02+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-12