“Today’s announcement follows detailed engagement between officials from my Department and their counterparts in the Department of Education, the HSE and the NCSE. We are seeking to ensure that this pilot takes a fully integrated approach to the provision of in-school therapies. It is good news for the children and families associated with these schools and we will be keen to develop the pilot, with an additional 10 special schools expected to be added to the pilot scheme during the course of the school year.

“I look forward to the increased services that the pilot will now provide to these children, as part of the overall Government effort to improve children’s disability services across the country under the Progressing Disability Services programme.”

“Today is an important day in the development of this pilot and I am eager to see progress with these first 6 schools. The confirmation of these 6 schools, is a further development towards fully reinstating the pre-existing on-site health and social care supports to special schools.

With another 10 schools to come on board during the school year, learnings from the first phase of schools in the pilot can be applied and there is no doubt that this will make a significant impact on the lives of children within special schools and their families. I particularly welcome the ongoing engagement by the Departments, state agencies and lead service agencies in implementing a cohesive plan to address family’s needs.

I look forward to engaging with the children and their families, principals and health & education staff as we begin to see the positive impacts that the pilot will undoubtedly have.”

“As Minister for Education I want every young person to have every available avenue to reach their full potential. I very much welcome that therapists will be allocated to work in special schools for the full duration of the school day and school year as part of this pilot programme.

This pilot provides an opportunity for my department and other key stakeholders to to provide wraparound support for children and young people with the greatest level of need in our schools.

I look forward to all parties continuing the collaborative work to date, and I am confident that these supports will be of benefit to many students and their teachers and families. This is just a first step in this pilot project and more schools will be added."

“As Minister of State for Special Education, I am focused on how students can be supported best to achieve their full potential. With this pilot, we have developed an integrated model of service, which will be informed by all relevant stakeholders. This model of service allows both the Health and Education Sectors work collaboratively and use their expertise for the benefit of the children attending special schools.

It will provide the benefits of a wrap-around service, which will bolster supports for children without disruption to their existing services. It will also provide a consistency in home/school approaches to supporting children, which will be of huge benefit to the children, families and teachers.”

“The HSE welcomes this announcement and continues to engage with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the Department of Education, to improve integration between health and education supports for special schools. It is important we reflect on how this work progresses and that we learn from the experiences of children and families as we make every effort to improve our response to children with disabilities.”

“The NCSE are delighted to be involved in this pilot which will see therapists on-site during school hours. As noted in recent NCSE policy advicse student outcomes are enabled with a greater availability of therapeutic supports within schools. An NCSE co-ordinator is available to support the schools in their engagement with stakeholders and will also assist in the coordination of the pilot.”