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Special Educational Needs

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 March 2021

Wednesday, 24 March 2021

Questions (872, 873, 874, 875, 876, 877)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

872. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education the number of special education places currently available in Cork city; the location of these places by primary school, secondary school, special school and so on; if these places are within an ASD unit, special class or mainstream class; and the discipline related to each of these places, for example, severe intellectual disability, mild to moderate intellectual disability and so on. [14679/21]

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Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

873. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education the number of primary schools with ASD units in Cork city. [14680/21]

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Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

874. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education the number of secondary schools with ASD units in Cork city. [14681/21]

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Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

875. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education the number of special schools in Cork city. [14682/21]

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Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

876. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education the number of children on waiting lists for access to special schools in Cork city, both in primary and secondary schools. [14683/21]

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Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

877. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education the number of children on waiting lists for access to ASD units in Cork city, in both primary and secondary schools. [14684/21]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 872 to 877, inclusive, together.

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government.  The Department of Education will spend approximately €2 Billion or over 20% of its total educational budget in 2021 on making additional provision for children with special educational needs this year.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide. It has well established structures in place for engaging with schools and parents. NCSE seeks to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all children who have been identified as needing special education placements. 

I should clarify that the NCSE does not maintain waiting lists for schools.  Boards of management of individual schools are responsible for such enrolment matters.

However, the NCSE, through its local network of SENOs (Special Educational Needs Organisers), offers advice and support to parents on the possible placement options available to their child, including mainstream placement with appropriate support, special class placement and special school placement.

All placements are supported with additional resources where required for those students with special educational needs.

NCSE is planning a further expansion of special class and special school places nationally, to meet identified need. This process is ongoing.  There are 88 special classes currently open in Cork City; 63 of these classes are based in primary schools (of which 7 are Early Intervention and 45 are ASD classes); 26 in post primary schools (of which 23 are ASD classes). There are 8 special schools in the Cork City Council area.

It is open to any school to make an application to the NCSE for the establishment of a specialised provision and where sanctioned, a range of supports, including capital funding, is made available to the school. The NCSE provides a programme of teacher professional learning and in-school support to support schools in establishing special classes.

Notwithstanding the extent of this investment, there are some parts of the country where increases in population and other issues have led to concerns regarding a shortage of school places.  For September 2021, the NCSE is aware of a specific identified need for special school placements in Cork City and County and is working with my Department and the education partners towards meeting that need.

Through better planning at both national and local level, it is my objective that specialist education places should come on stream to meet emerging demand on a timely basis. However, the active collaboration of school communities is essential in this regard.

NCSE is aware of those parents whose children will be seeking placement for the 2021/22 academic year, including mainstream placement with appropriate support, special class placement, Early Intervention and special school placement. The NCSE continues to work to identify any and all relevant suitable placements.

The NCSE's local Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) are available to assist and advise both schools and the parents of children with special educational needs. Parents may contact SENOs directly using the contact details available at: https://ncse.ie/regional-services-contact-list.

Information on the list of schools with special classes is available at www.ncse.ie.

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