She will write to the Teaching Council to introduce a mandatory assessed placement period in a special education setting for all student teachers, determined that every child should be supported to achieve their full potential. As part of the initiative, the council will survey Initial Teacher Education providers to gain a deeper understanding of special education settings.

Minister McEntee is committed to opening additional special classes and schools, increasing the number of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) and special education teachers, as well as expanding available resources for special needs schools.

“No matter where you are teaching, it should be the case that every teacher knows how to support that child whatever that additional need might be and at the moment I don’t feel that that’s the case”, she said. The objective is scheduled to have additional training in place for teachers by 2026.

“There isn’t one class in Ireland in any ordinary school that doesn’t have a child with some special education needs that needs help”, John Boyle, General Secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), welcomed the initiative, stressing the necessity for more training.

Boyle suggested expanding the Special Education Diploma, which currently has only 250 places. “It will take 80 years before every teacher is trained at this rate”, he added. “We believe that at least two days per term should be devoted to this so that we get all the teachers trained quickly.”

"Maybe one day for special education training and one day for other training like child protection and so on," he concluded.