Ireland
Country
Topic:
Special schools are officially designated as primary schools and are generally funded in the same manner, their capital and current costs being predominantly funded by the State and supplemented by local contributions or voluntary organisations.
However, additional funding is provided for students with special educational needs under a variety of headings, as follows:
- Enhanced capitation grants in respect of students with defined levels of learning disability enrolled in special schools, classes or services.
- Free transport to special schools or special classes in mainstream schools or a grant to lieu to parents, where provision of special transport is not feasible.
- Grants for special equipment such as hearing and radio aids, braillers and computers.
- Grants for specialised seating and other furniture.
- Start-up and annual grants for special class teachers, resource teachers and learning support teachers for the purchase of equipment and materials.
- Payment of travel and subsistence expenses to visiting teachers; payment of travel expenses to resources teachers and learning support teachers who
visit clusters of schools.
- Funding of specialist teaching services to special schools.
- Funding of Home Tuition Schemes for students with special educational needs who are unable to attend school.
- Payment of salaries of Special Needs Assistants employed in mainstream
and special schools.
- Payment of salaries of concessionary teachers in schools located in areas designated as disadvantaged.
- Payment of supplementary grants for equipment and materials to schools located in areas designated as disadvantaged.