Written answer
Special Educational Needs
The Minister cited expanded special education staffing, special classes and equipment funding to support students with additional needs, alongside teacher training. The Education Therapy Service, including speech and language and occupational therapy, is being phased into special schools; no dyspraxia- or apraxia-specific measures were outlined.
113. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Education and Youth her Department’s plans to improve the provision of educational supports and accommodations for children with dyspraxia or childhood apraxia of speech across primary and post-primary school. [74215/26]
Comment on this
This government is fully committed to supporting students with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective.
In pursuit of a more inclusive education system it is important, as far as possible to support students to attend their local mainstream schools. This means that children and young people can be educated with their peers and are not required to travel long distances to attend special schools or classes.
In 2027, the Government has prioritised ensuring that schools have the necessary resources to support children with special educational needs in the setting that best meets their needs. Since 2020, over 2,400 new special classes have been provided and there are now more than 4,300 special classes available in our primary and post-primary schools. Since 2020, 20 new special schools have been opened.
Budget 2027 will increase our special education teachers by 1,353 and 2,339 special needs assistants (SNAs) will be funded to support children across mainstream and specialist settings. This brings the total number of SNAs to over 28,000 by the end of 2027, which is the highest ever number of SNAs allocated to our education system. This is in recognition of the growing needs of children across all settings.
In total, there will be 52,000 dedicated staff to support children with special educational needs in our schools.
The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) also provides professional learning opportunities that are available to all primary and post-primary school teachers on supporting children and young people with special educational needs.
Funding is also made available to schools for the purchase of specialised equipment to assist students. Schools can apply to the NCSE, through their local special educational needs organiser (SENO) for such support.
The ETS is an additional support for children with special education needs and has been established as an important support for children and young people in their school environment. The service will include Occupational Therapists and Speech and Language Therapists initially and is delivered by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). The ETS will be delivered in a complementary manner to existing services and will not replace family centred supports currently provided by existing children’s health and disability services.
In February 2026, my department announced the phased expansion of the ETS starting with in special schools. The expanded service started with an initial 45 special schools in February 2026 and a further 19 in September 2026. It is envisaged therapists will support a cluster of schools. The number of schools a therapist will support in a cluster will be dependent on a number of factors including; geographical location, the demographic and number of students per school.
My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to achieve their full potential.