Special Educational Needs
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-25
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Noel Grealish (IND), Galway West

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Naughton. It is Department policy, in accordance with the principles of inclusive education, that students with additional learning needs are supported in mainstream classes along with their peers, with additional supports provided as necessary. Schools are advised to provide the highest levels of additional teaching support for those students who have the highest levels of need, including students with literacy difficulties.
The Department has invested considerably in ensuring that all recognised mainstream schools have been allocated additional special education teaching resources to support children with special educational needs, including students with a specific learning disability, SLD. Guidelines for schools on the organisation, deployment and use of their special education teachers have been published on the Department’s website. There are 15,000 special education teachers allocated to primary and post-primary schools to enable them to support children with special educational needs. Funding is also made available to schools for the purchase of specialised equipment such as computers and software, or both, to assist children with special educational needs, including children with a specific learning disability, where relevant professionals recommend the equipment as being essential for the provision of education. Schools apply to the NCSE through their local SENO for such support.
A continuum of education provisions is in place covering the full range of need spanning placement in mainstream classes, with support to more specialist placements, either in a special class or a special school, depending on the complexity of need. It is important to note, though, that the majority of students with literacy difficulties currently receive additional teaching support from a special education teacher in a mainstream class. This is provided on the basis of the individual student’s learning needs, identified in schools, as opposed to being based on a requirement for a child to have a diagnosis or an assessment of a particular disability.
There are four schools dedicated to supporting students with an SLD. There are also 14 SLD classes in 11 mainstream primary schools located across the country, though mainly in urban settings, in counties Dublin, Clare, Louth, Galway, Kerry and Wexford. These schools and classes have a teacher-student ratio of 1:9 and are attended by students normally aged between eight and 12 years for a maximum of two years. Students will have a diagnosis of dyslexia and a score at the second percentile, or lower, on standardised literacy tests. They will also have an average or above average level of intelligence.
It is important to note that these classes were established at a time when significantly fewer resources were available to mainstream schools. The inspectorate has evaluated provision in special classes for children and young people with an SLD. The purpose of the evaluation was to examine the quality of provision for children and young people with an SLD, with particular reference to understanding the placement of children and young people in these classes and to identifying the strengths and areas for improvement in learning and teaching in these classes. The inspectorate’s report will inform the development of policy in the Department’s special education section in relation to the overall effectiveness of SLD classes in the context of emerging international trends for inclusion.
One of the key recommendations contained in the inspectorate's report is the need to build the capacity of mainstream schools to meet the needs of students with reading and literacy difficulties. In that regard, I am pleased to say the Department and NCSE officials are working on a measure to support the development of students’ literacy skills. This will see a number of graduates of an MEd dyslexia programme being facilitated to provide advice and support to a number of schools in their local areas. This programme, which will be provided on a trial basis, will be operational from September next. The special education section will continue to consider the findings and recommendations of the inspectorate's report and may in time request the inspectorate to review provision for children with SLDs in special schools.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:41+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-25