There are 139 special schools in Ireland today. They support students with highly complex needs. They need hoists, medical devices, outdoor regulation areas and access to nurses, therapists and clinicians. Their buildings, staffing and day-to-day operations all require essential additional resources to safely and effectively support their students who are just as deserving of an education as everybody else. We know from DEIS that targeted funding can help to make a difference when allocated where it is needed most. I ask for a special school designation in the education funding budget for 2027 as a fundamental acknowledgment that special schools have greater needs.

I concur with everything the Deputy has said. When I spent almost a year in the Department of education last year, special education was one area on which I really wanted to work and make greater progress. There is a greater level of need in special schools but there has also been an increase in need across mainstream schools, if you want to call them that, including special classes within those schools. We need to make sure every penny we spend in current or capital is targeted towards those who need it most. Perhaps there is more we need to do, for example by designating special schools specifically as requiring more and increasing what they receive. They already get greater levels of support in teaching and resources. In the same way that we have adjusted DEIS over the years when the environment, the population and the needs have changed, perhaps we need to take a further look at what is needed now - what further resources are required - and how to incorporate that into current and capital budgets which is important. Twenty new special schools have been opened since 2019-----

Thank you, Minister.

-----and four more will open later this year.

I call Deputy Conor McGuinness.

This is a priority for us and we need to enhance it in every way we can.