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Special Educational Needs

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 November 2021

Tuesday, 23 November 2021

Questions (65)

Pauline Tully

Question:

65. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Education the reason a response was never received to an expression of interest made in March 2020 by a school (details supplied) to assist with planning in respect of the requirement for special class provision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57284/21]

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Oral answers (7 contributions)

Milltown National School in Belturbet, County Cavan expressed an interest in having an ASD unit in the school but has not received a reply. What is the status of this request?

I understand that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has contacted the school on the request. It is a matter I take seriously as Minister of State with responsibility for special education. It is important to look at the growth in special classes. In 2011 there were 508 special classes and now there are 2,118, an increase of 386%. This year alone, we opened 269 special classes and will open 287 next year, with 1,700 special class places. That is the context. There has been rapid growth in special classes but that is not to say that we do not need more. The NCSE looks at current and projected demand and current and projected accommodation when it considers whether to open a special class.

I understand that the school has not yet made an application to the Department for special class accommodation but has applied for a special class. I am informed that there is already sufficient special classes in that school planning area, as there are three special classes in the Beltubert special planning area. That could change. If there is a review with new information and additional resources are required, the NCSE will consider that seriously. I commend Milltown for looking into opening a special class voluntarily. Not every school is as forthcoming. I appreciate it and it is something that we will consider.

It was a parent who contacted me about this matter. She is anxious that all her children attend the same school. One of them is on the autism spectrum. From her conversations with the principal in Milltown, she knew the school was interested and had made an expression of interest in having an ASD unit but that it had not heard back. On foot of her query, I submitted a parliamentary question and the response was that there had been no application. That is why the principal was taken aback - there had been no interaction after he had expressed an interest.

This week, the special educational needs organiser, SENO, was in contact to say that they would consider taking it further because there may be a need for more places in that area, and the school is delighted to hear that. The school has been sanctioned for additional classrooms. It is a growing school and it has additional teachers-----

I am sorry, the Deputy will have another chance to come back in a moment.

I understand that is was recently approved for additional mainstream accommodation and resource teaching. The NCSE is engaging with the school. We are putting about 360 additional special education teachers and 620 SNAs to all the special classes. The NCSE says there are sufficient places within existing special classes now but that is subject to change. The ongoing engagement between the NCSE through its SENOs with the school will be pertinent.

As the Minister of State indicated, not all schools are volunteering to have ASD units put in place. The numbers of people being assessed as having autism are increasing. Not all will need to be in an ASD unit or special class. Many are in mainstream schools and classes and are thriving. Schools might need more information. The principal had asked if additional finances would be provided for the ASD unit. If the unit was sanctioned and came on stream, would temporary accommodation be provided, for example, if it came on stream for next year, if there was demand in the area? The school is using the school hall as a classroom now. The principal had hoped that they would use that as the unit but now they need a lot more space as their numbers have increased.

It is good to see schools volunteering. There are many schools that do not want to have a unit and students have to be bused out of their areas.

I commend the school on taking the initiative to contact the NCSE in the first instance. If the NCSE agrees in future to open a special class, if there is demand, it and the Department give funding either to reconfigure accommodation or to provide new accommodation. It is also important to stress that when a school is opening a special class, there are additional grants. There is a start-up grant of about €6,500, there is an ICT grant that I think is €6,700, and there are a number of other grants as well. We are always encouraging schools to open special classes. All new schools from this year will automatically provide SEN facilities, so we will not be having a conversation like this in years to come. It will be automatically worked out. A better forecasting model is now in place so we can see where the future demographic growth will be and where that demand will arise in future.

Question No. 66 answered with Question No. 61.
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