596. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether she will review the guidance and professional development provided to teachers and special education teachers on evidence-informed approaches to supporting students with literacy and numeracy difficulties, including dyslexia and dyscalculia, in view of the PISA 2025 findings. [65235/26]

The Department of Education aims to facilitate every individual through learning, to achieve their full potential and to ensure that the education system upholds the rights of every individual to receive an education appropriate to their needs.

To support this, there has been significant growth and investment in disability and special education related supports for students in Ireland. In addition, there have been changes to special education support and funding structures which seek to include greater numbers of students with disabilities in mainstream education.

These changes have been underpinned by a policy of inclusion and influenced by a combination of international and national developments. These include the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) which was a significant driver for policy change in educational provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Current Department of Education policy is based on a continuum of provision for children and young people with special educational needs, ranging from fulltime placement in mainstream settings to specialist provision, including special schools and classes.

Since 2017, and the introduction of a needs-based approach the Department allocates additional teaching supports directly to schools through the special education teaching (SET) model. This aims to ensure that those with the highest level of need have access to the greatest level of support in a timely and flexible manner, without the requirement for a diagnosis of disability.

The special education teaching model recognises that effective provision for children with special educational needs is situated within an inclusive whole-school framework. This is underpinned by effective teaching and learning for all, and meaningful collaboration and engagement between teachers, parents/guardians, children, and other professionals, where appropriate.

Providing inclusive education to children with special educational needs is a fundamental principle of the education system. This principle is observed through Department policies, Teaching Council requirements for initial teacher education, curriculum provision and the range of supports provided to schools by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and Oide.

Teachers undertake professional learning in a range of pedagogical, curricular and educational areas. Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) provided for teachers supports the inclusion of students with special educational needs in schools. There have been a number of important developments recently which are intended to ensure that teachers’ knowledge and skills are developed more effectively to enable them to meet the needs of students with special educational needs.

In March 2025, the Minister initiated a process to move towards a mandatory assessed placement period in a special education need (SEN) setting for all student teachers, supported by appropriate modules. This measure came into effect from September this year. The move to mandatory assessed placements in special education settings builds on the already extensive changes to ITE in recent years to support a more inclusive education system.

On an annual basis, the department provides funding for two distinct categories of post-graduate programmes for existing Special Education Teachers:

• Post-Graduate Diploma Programme of Teacher Professional Learning for Special Education Teachers.

• Graduate Certificate in Autism Education for teachers working with Autistic Pupils in Special Schools, Special Classes or as Special Education Teachers in mainstream Primary and Post-Primary Schools.

The number of places offered on these courses increased from 338 annually to 388 for the first time in 2026. It is intended to increase this number in future years, subject to budgetary considerations. As part of that, consideration will be given to the potential to include other Higher Education Institutes as providers.

It is also important to note that a comprehensive range of professional learning programmes is available through the NCSE and Oide.

Students in Ireland are significantly above the EU and OECD averages in both Reading and Mathematics, as well as Science, showing a strong performance in PISA 2025. Irish students continue to rank among the very best readers in Europe, maintaining first place in the EU.

In terms of overall mean scores, Irish students are first for reading, third for science and fourth for mathematics out of 27 EU countries. In terms of students performing below Level 2 specifically, in all domains assessed Ireland had a smaller proportion of lower-achieving students than both the OECD and EU averages.

In Reading, Ireland had 16.5%, whereas the OECD had 31% and the EU had 33.9%. In Mathematics, Ireland had 24.2%, whereas the OECD had 34.9% and the EU had 34.8%. In Science, Ireland had 17.6%, whereas the OECD had 25.7% and the EU had 27.3%. These results are a testament to the success of Ireland’s approach to education where all learners are valued and supported to succeed.

Irish students continue to rank among the very best readers in Europe, maintaining first place in the EU.