Four in ten Cork schools will see reduced hours for special needs students next September

Four in every 10 Cork schools will see their special education teaching  (SET) hours reduced next year, according to the Department of Education.

A total of 139 out of 335 Cork mainstream primary schools will see a reduction in the hours of SET for its students next year.

The SET allocations provide schools with additional teaching hours to support the learning needs of students in mainstream classes who need extra support.

More than 15,000 special education teachers will be allocated to mainstream classes across Ireland for the 2026-2027 school year,.

Education minister Hildegarde Naughton said the allocation of SET resources to schools will see some schools gaining hours, while others will see a reduction in hours where there is change in the “enrolment number and local demographics”.

She added: 

“In Cork, there has been a reduction in enrolments of over 2,200 in 231 schools. In 139 of these schools, the profile change was significant, which resulted in a reduced SET allocation.”

She said the reductions from those schools have been “reallocated” to almost 100 other schools in Cork, whose “profile of need” had increased, along with another 15 new SET teaching posts allocated to support them.

The minister said: “In addition, a total of 23 Cork schools submitted an SET review request to the National Council for Special Education. These are presently being processed by the NCSE and each school will be advised of the outcome before the end of the school year.”

She said in the last five years in Co Cork, the number of special classes increased by 73%, the number of SNAs overall is up by 32%, and the number of special education teachers has risen by 18%.

“My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality where every child and young person feels valued and actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential,” she added.

The Department of Education says there are 335 mainstream primary schools in Cork. This means that the 139 schools which saw a reduction in SETs represent more than 41% of all Cork schools.

The information was provided to Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould, who told The Echo that many children do not receive a diagnosis until they have been in primary school for years, and resources should not be allocated on this basis.