Meeting at Leinster House

A meeting was held on May 26th with the Minister for Special Education, Mr Michael Moynihan TD, and Mr John Kearney, CEO of the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). Down Syndrome Ireland was represented at the meeting by Aidan Stacey, CEO, Ruth Hickey, Deputy CEO and Head of Public Affairs, and Fidelma Brady, Head of Education. The main issues discussed were around the provision of Special Classes in Mainstream Primary and Post Primary schools for our members, the lack of data collected by the Department of Education and Youth on the numbers of children with Down syndrome in the education system, and a proposal from Down Syndrome Ireland for the development and provision of a Transition Year programme for students with Down syndrome in Post Primary schools.

While there was agreement at the meeting that children with Down syndrome should not be excluded from appropriate educational settings because the national special class system has evolved around a single diagnostic model, and an acknowledgement of the imbalance in class allocation from both Minister Moynihan and Mr Kearney, it was highlighted that the issues around the lack of special classes provision arise from the very small numbers of parents who actually apply on the NCSE parents portal. A clear illustration of this problem can be seen in our recent Down Syndrome Ireland survey, where data reviewed on May 15th indicated that, of those parents who had responded, only 17% had applied for a special class place through the Portal, with 83% indicated that they had not used the portal to apply in 2025 for the 2026- 2027 school year. We cannot stress enough the importance of applying through the Portal for a special class place. No other form of application will be considered, for example, directly to the school. Applications for the 2027-2028 school year will open on the Portal most likely in September 2026, and we will keep you informed over the summer months.

In relation to the Transition Year programme, the NCSE are happy to support us with our proposal to develop a Transition Year programme and work will commence on our draft proposal immediately. The Minister also indicated that they will investigate the possibility of including specific data on intellectual disabilities in the census 2027, and also in annual statistical returns from schools.

We look forward to continued engagement with both the Department of Education and Youth, and with the NCSE, and, as always, we will keep you updated on any developments over the summer months.