I thank Senator Dolan for her contribution on such an important area as school places. The Commencement matter relates to mainstream places but I might mention special classes and special school places as well. The former come under the remit of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, as opposed to me but I am happy to provide this response. In regard to home tuition, which was mentioned in the matter raised, the Department operates three categories of home tuition: special educational needs on medical grounds; r…

I am not finished.

The Department has asked me to make the Senators aware of the reasons there are sometimes enrolment pressures in Ballinasloe. It is important to note that sometimes when these enrolment pressures arise, it may not be as a result of the lack of accommodation. The bus is a separate matter and I will certainly bring that particular case back to the attention of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley. One of the factors could be the duplication of applications, namely, where pupils have applied for a place to a numbe…

I thank the Deputy for his question. It is critical that all children are treated equally, humanely and with respect and compassion, particularly children with additional needs. Any child protection issues should be referred to Tusla and the Garda. I will bring the Deputy's comments to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Foley, under whose remit these issues lie and also to the inspectorate.

I thank the Acting Chair, and Senators O'Loughlin and Clifford-Lee for proposing and seconding this motion. I also thank Senators Boyhan, Seery Kearney, Warfield, Black, Currie, Sherlock and Pauline O'Reilly for their various contributions. As Senators know, I am not a Minister or a Minister of State in the Department of Health but I have taken a note. An official sitting behind me has taken note of all the Senators' contributions. If she needs to come back to the Senators about anything, I am sure that will happen…

No.

I thank the Deputy for his question. I am not sure when he wrote to me, but I will check with my office. It would be unacceptable if Teo did not have an appropriate placement in September. I am not sure if it is a special school or special class.

We have 2,537 special classes and we will be opening 380 special classes this September. I assume that Teo is in touch and engaging with the local special educational needs organiser, SENO.

If the Deputy would like to bring the case to my attention, I will speak with the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, directly about obtaining an appropriate placement for Teo.

I thank the Deputy for her question. It is important to stress at the outset, as the Minister of State with responsibility for special education, that this year’s budget for special education was €2.6 billion. That was a 10% increase from last year. It is also 27% of the entire education budget. Part of that funding includes support for children and young people in our schools who rely on Braille. I have met the NCBI myself on many occasions to discuss supports for the blind and the visually impaired. I can confirm…

The SLA was signed in 2015. I concur with the Deputy’s statement that blind or visually impaired children need to be supported in every way possible to ensure that they reach their full potential in our education system. Due to the complexity of Braille, though, orders generally need to be placed for books by the November before the school year in which they are required. However, if there are changes to the book list or the versions of books being used in a school or if a student amends his or her subject choices,…

Departmental officials have commenced the initial stage of the review of the provision of Braille books and will meet ChildVision to discuss the matter this week. All potential options that are available will be examined to ensure that quality provision is in place for all children who need it and that delays in the delivery to students are avoided. A part of the review will examine options that may be available in the marketplace to provide the services required by our students. Currently, the Department is not aw…

I thank the Deputy. As Minister of State with responsibility for special education, this is an area I am tasked with daily, as are the Department and the NCSE. It is imperative that every child with an additional need have a special class place in all counties. Over the past two to three years, the Department and the NCSE have introduced a number of strategic initiatives to plan for and provide special class and special school places. As the Deputy will know, we now have 600 classes sanctioned at primary level and …

I thank the Deputy. As I mentioned, in Meath, 24 new special classes will open for the 2023-24 year, comprising 17 at primary and seven at post primary, amounting to a provision of 133 special classes providing for 798 pupils. In regard to the census figures, there has been an increase in population of 8% since 2016, but any change arising from the census is taken into account when we forward-plan not just for special classes but for school accommodation in general. That is because we already have the precise enrol…

I thank the Deputy for his question. There are approximately 214 school planning areas in the country. The Department uses a geographical information system in order to determine capacity and where schools are required. It also monitors the increasing demographics in certain areas. We are acutely aware of the challenges relating to Dublin 8, including an increasing demographic. I will bring the matter to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Department. It can be taken further from there.

DEIS schools are extremely important. One in four schools in this country are DEIS at this point and we have a number of different initiatives to support them. For example, we have the hot school meals programme and, as the Deputy knows, there is the free books scheme. If this refers to a particular school in the Deputy’s constituency or county, he can bring that to my attention and I can see if there is a process that we can bring forward for that particular school to apply for DEIS.

I thank the Deputy for her question. It is of huge importance to me, as Minister of State with responsibility for special education. I concur with what the Deputy says by virtue of the fact that all children, particularly children with additional needs, should have an appropriate placement, whether in a mainstream class, in a special class or, indeed, in a special school. Ninety-eight per cent of children with special educational needs attend mainstream settings, which is good. However, there are obviously children…

I can reassure the Deputy that as Minister of State with responsibility for special education I absolutely do not want to see children or parents, or indeed school staff, out with placards trying to obtain an appropriate placement for their child. Parents should in the first instance contact their local special educational needs organiser, SENO, who will advise them on appropriate placements. It is important to note that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, was given an extra €13 million in the budget …

For September of this year, we have already sanctioned 305 special classes and we expect that more will be sanctioned over the coming weeks. There are 197 sanctioned for primary level and 108 at post-primary. There are 2,537 special classes now in the country, with 1,798 at primary and 739 at post-primary. There is consistent and constant engagement with the NCSE on forward planning. There is a detailed review ongoing of statistical data all the time. There is consideration of improved data-sharing arrangements. Th…

I thank the Deputy for his question. It is important to stress that education is a right under the Constitution, as has just been mentioned here. That obviously applies to children with additional needs as well. What the State endeavours to do in the first instance is to get an appropriate placement for children with additional needs. Sometimes they have to travel, which is not desirable. We always endeavour to provide appropriate placements for children in their own localities. I understand that St. Eunan's Nation…