I thank the Deputy for her question. Ensuring that every child and young person can reach their full potential is a key priority for me as Minister and for my Department. The DEIS programme and the new DEIS plus scheme, which will begin this year as part of the DEIS strategy to 2035, are key initiatives in my Department’s approach to addressing educational disadvantage. Schools were identified for inclusion in the DEIS and DEIS plus programmes using refined, rules-based approaches built on nationally available pupi…

The DEIS plus strategy was a commitment in the programme for Government, the aim of which is to target areas across the country where there are really high risks of educational disadvantage. The evidence from international assessments on literacy and numeracy finds that Ireland performs very highly compared to other OECD countries or EU averages. However, the assessments also find that there are gaps remaining in relation to outcomes for children from areas of high deprivation. That was reinforced by the 2024 revie…

The commitment in the programme for Government was for the DEIS plus strategy aimed at those areas of most severe educational disadvantage. That is why I set up a pilot specifically for schools that are not in DEIS, understanding the needs that are out there. I will be looking at that into the future to see what more we can do and what more supports we can provide for schools across the country. With regard to the data, this is nationally available data that is applied right across the country, and also the enrolme…

Okay. I can come back to the Deputy with further information. I can confirm that my Department is in receipt of an application for accommodation under the additional school accommodation scheme for the school referred to by the Deputy. The application relates to the replacement of a prefab which is used as a special education tuition room and ancillary accommodation. The Department's assessment of this application needs to reflect the fact this is a two-teacher school, with a current enrolment of 20 pupils. While t…

I thank the Deputy for his question and for giving me the opportunity to speak to it. Addressing educational disadvantage and ensuring that every child and young person can reach their full potential is a key priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth and for this Government. The DEIS plus scheme, commencing this year as part of the DEIS Strategy to 2035, represents the most significant expansion of targeted educational supports since the establishment of the DEIS programme. It is designed to provide enhan…

The model nationally did not overlook Limerick. A number of schools across Limerick city and county have been identified for inclusion in DEIS plus based on the same objective criteria. With regard to the appeals process, schools have until 25 May to submit an appeal to the Department for review and they also have the opportunity to update their enrolment data for the years 2023 to 2424, 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026 on the Department's POD and P-POD where they identify that the information already provided is not …

The provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post-primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs, is an absolute priority for me. Recognising the potential for school place pressures, my Department has been engaging on an ongoing basis with the primary schools in Dunshaughlin and has assessed application and admissions data provided by those schools. In response to the identified need, my Department has engaged with the patron of Dun…

There is ongoing engagement between the Department and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, with the schools. In relation to the Gaelscoil, because this is related and it is within the area, my Department has been in ongoing contact with the school. As of 14 April, there are 30 pupils remaining on its waiting list. It is important to note that some of those pupils may have accepted a place elsewhere in the area. The school has contacted all families on the waiting list to confirm whether they wish to r…

I reiterate that I am in ongoing engagement with Oireachtas Members, including the Deputy today and other colleagues. My Department is engaging on an ongoing basis with Dunshaughlin Community National School. As I said, parents can be assured that all pupils in Dunshaughlin will have a place available for September. The construction of a new school for Dunshaughlin Community National School is progressing. That is well under way. That will be completed in early 2027. In relation to the Gaelscoil, two mainstream cla…

The National Council for Special Education has verified that 7,860 children and young people notified to it by 1 October 2025 meet the requirements for a special class or special school place for the 2026-27 school year. Further children have come forward after this date, and this will continue right up to September 2026. Approximately 7,000 of the 7,860 children and young people have a diagnosis of autism. There is generally an adequate number of available places for children and young people with other diagnoses.…

Many of the 2,700 new special education places provided for in the 2025-26 school year are in special classes, which means there are now 3,741 special classes in our education system. Budget 2026 provided €3 billion to support children with special educational needs and that allowed for 3,000 new special places for the 2026-27 school year, with 1,700 special needs assistants, SNAs, 860 special education teachers, €16 million for education therapy services, extra special education teacher hours for transition and co…

As I said, 7,860 parents were notified to the NCSE before 1 October. There are more who are still engaging with that process so I secured extra funding for the roll-out of further special classes. Some parents are still waiting for reports or recommendations and some parents might not be aware that their child may require a special class. However, I reassure those parents and families that they will be supported in seeking a placement in a school. Some 240,000 children who have additional needs are supported in mai…

-----school places and are supported in those settings.

The school building projects for Dunboyne junior and senior national schools will deliver a new 24-classroom primary school for the senior school and an eight-classroom extension and refurbishment project for the junior school. Both school projects will also include classrooms for children with additional needs. I am aware that there have previously been procurement difficulties with this project and that an opportunity was taken to request the design team to do an element of redesign to include in the scope of wor…

The Deputy will be aware there are a number of factors. This is a general statement about the NDP and projects to be prioritised. Demographic pressures in an area, enrolments in the wider catchment area, special education provision and that schools do not currently have a home are all factored into the prioritisation. On the school in question, we absolutely recognise the need for prioritisation here. This is a five-year NDP programme. The first tranche has been announced. Due to the project being re-tendered, the …

Where planning permission has previously been secured but is due to run out before the project can be delivered, there are mechanisms. My Department is very aware of this and would have a lot of experience in relation to it. The Department examines projects on a case-by-case basis to determine the best course of action. One approach might be engagement with the local authority to request an extension to the existing planning permission, for example. I am just speaking in the general here. This would be applicable, …

A comprehensive suite of professional learning to support teachers in relation to artificial intelligence, AI, for teachers is being provided by Oide technology in education, Oide TIE, which is the Department-funded digital teacher professional learning service that has been rolled out across the country. This work recognises both the opportunities and challenges presented by AI in schools, including its potential to enhance teaching and learning and assessment, alongside considerations such as ethics, responsible …

The Deputy raises an important issue. In relation to the additional assessment components, coursework rules were published by the State Examinations Commission, SEC, last November. They addressed the use and misuse of artificial intelligence. Additionally, the SEC has also commissioned research by the University of Limerick, which is due for completion in December 2026. There are very clear rules online, through the SEC, in relation to the use of AI for examinations. As the Deputy and I will remember from when we w…

The Deputy very eloquently expressed the situation in relation to the role of the teacher and teaching and learning, which is very important. There are lots of positives for AI, as well as lots of challenges, including its ethical use. Teachers and school leaders play a central role in developing students' digital skills, including AI literacy. To support them, we have the AI schools hubs, acceptable use policy, bespoke in-school supports for teachers and Oide. We are also working at EU level. An international AI p…

I thank the Deputy for her question. My Department’s process for delivering a school building project under the large-scale programme or additional school accommodation programme involves five core stages. These stages are reflective of the capital works, management framework and infrastructure guidelines. The stages range from preliminary design to completion and handover. My Department’s design team procedures set out the requirements to be followed at each stage of those processes. These procedures are available…