Disability Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-29
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Neale Richmond (FG), Dublin Rathdown

I am grateful to Deputy Butterly for raising this very pertinent and personal issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan.
As the Deputy is aware, as part of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, the Government has committed to the development of a national policy on transitions, which will map out how we support young people completing school into the various pathways for life after school. This work is ongoing and a report is expected by the end of this year.
Over the past four years, the Department of education, in partnership with the NCSE and Walkinstown Association for People with an Intellectual Disability, WALK, has been testing two different approaches to a transitions support model. A teacher-led programme has been operating in 41 special schools as part of the comprehensive employment strategy for disabled people. The WALK PEER ability transitions programme currently supports seven special schools and three post-primary schools in Dublin, Louth, Cork, Cavan and Westmeath and I greatly appreciate the Deputy naming St. Ita's and others. This programme is delivered by careers and employment facilitators who work directly with students in their final two years of school but also support the students for a further three years post school.
Both programmes finished in June, were externally evaluated and were the subject of very positive feedback from all participant schools and stakeholders more broadly. Both evaluations recommended the expansion of a transitions-type model of support to students.
In relation to the WALK PEER model specifically, funding of €2 million has been provided through the Dormant Accounts Fund, DAF, over the past four years to support the programme in the ten schools. The programme is fully funded until December 2026. To provide a continuum of support until June 2027, the Department of education has submitted an application through the DAF 2027 for additional funding and a decision is expected shortly.
In addition, a number of Departments have received a submission from WALK to expand the programme over the next four years. While the outcomes of the programme are positive, the scalability of the model to all special schools over the next number of years is limited relative the scalability of the teacher-led comprehensive employment strategy, CES, transitions model.
Based on the outcomes of both pilot programmes and subject to the total funding available, the Minister, Deputy Naughton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, announced a new transitions support service for all special schools in June this year. The purpose of the new service is to support young people with disabilities as they prepare to move from school into further education, training, employment and other post-school opportunities and pathways. Additionally, the focus of schools’ work can be on supporting transitions into the school. The service is being rolled out to all special schools from this month and will be managed by the NCSE. The service provides each special school with 34 transitions support teaching days per year. This flexible allocation will allow schools to deliver transitions support at the times it is needed most throughout the school year. Prior to the roll-out of this service, there was no guidance allocation to students in special schools. All mainstream post-primary schools already receive an allocation for guidance counselling to provide support to students in line with their needs throughout all stages of the post-primary journey.
That all said, I take very seriously on board the request made by the Deputy on behalf of the school communities and students and will engage directly with the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and ask him to speak to the Deputy in the forum of a deputation meeting.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-29