The country's largest teacher trade union has called for funding for the full equipping of special classrooms and ancillary sensory and play spaces to be guaranteed to schools and to be made available before a special class is established.
As schools prepare to open an unprecedented number of new special classes this coming September, the Irish National Teachers' Organisation has also called for increased investment in special education teaching and SNA posts.
The primary teachers' union began its annual congress in Co Galway and the union will publish a policy paper containing its recommendations around special education.
"Inclusion cannot be achieved on goodwill alone - teachers and school communities require meaningful support from the Department of Education, its agencies, and allied professionals," INTO General Secretary John Boyle said.
"Teachers are at the forefront of making inclusion a reality. It’s time for the Department and the NCSE to listen to the profession, acknowledge its experience, and act on the clear need for greater investment, planning and support," he said.
Mr Boyle said the union believed that more special school places were vital and that additional supports should be provided for children with additional needs who are being taught in mainstream classes.
The INTO has called for a significant reduction in class sizes to support inclusion, targeting an average of 19 pupils in mainstream schools and 15 in the country’s most disadvantaged or DEIS schools.
It also wants the current method of allocating special education teachers to be reviewed.
Special education is one of a number of issues that will be debated by INTO delegate members over the coming days in Co Galway.
Members will discuss calls for therapeutic supports for children with additional needs, including behavioural supports, as well as the need for greater access for children to therapeutic assessments and psychological supports.
Top of the agenda for primary teachers this year is what the sector says is the chronic underfunding of schools.
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Assault leave scheme
Primary school teachers also called for the removal of a cap on the length of time a teacher can take off to recover, if they are assaulted by a pupil.
Delegates unanimously adopted a resolution calling for immediate and comprehensive reform of the assault leave scheme for teachers amid what they say is a sharp rise in physical aggression in schools, particularly in special schools and special class settings.
The issue was discussed by delegates in a private session.
Laura Darragh, a delegate from Co Kildare and a teacher in a special school, has been assaulted by pupils on a number of occasions.
She told RTÉ News about one incident that happened in 2019 when Ms Darragh said she was "severely assaulted".
Like other teachers discussing this issue Ms Darragh, who has worked in special education for almost 20 years, was keen to stress that she does not believe that the child was to blame, rather she said what happened was due to a lack of resources for children.
"These are students who are not getting the level of speech and language, occupational, or behavioral and other supports that they need," she said.
"The buildings we are working in are also not fit for purpose," she added.
The assault she experienced has had a detrimental impact on her life.
"I was left with serious lower back issues and I was very traumatised," she said, adding that she "couldn't go back to work for a long period of time".
"I was off work for three months and used up all my assault leave," she said.
This is because such leave is limited to just three months per four-year period.
"Unfortunately, in my line of work, you are going to get assaulted" Ms Darragh said.
"We do not go to school to get hurt but unfortunately that is the reality of working in special education," she added.
The resolution notes the "alarming increase" in assaults on teachers and highlights "the unacceptable reality" that many are left using or exhausting their standard sick leave following an incident, resulting in financial hardship and long-term emotional and physical consequences.
Primary school teachers called on the Government to immediately enact the Occupied Territories Bill and have endorsed the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement "as key to defeating apartheid in Palestine".
Delegates overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning "the ongoing genocide in Gaza and attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, the resultant destruction of the Palestinian education system and the denial of the right to education to Palestinian children and young people".
Josephine Doyle of the unions equality committee called the issue "a morally urgent motion which speaks to our values as teachers, trade unionists and human beings", adding it was about "standing in solidarity with Palestinian children".
The bill aims to ban trade between Ireland and Israel's illegal settlements on Palestinian land.
Independent senator Frances Black, who introduced the bill, is due to speak at a fringe event that will take place at the INTO gathering at lunchtime tomorrow.
Primary school teachers will also debate teacher workload, the detrimental impact that social media can have on the lives of children and the role of the Catholic Church in education.
Delegates will debate a motion calling for single-faith religious education to be removed from the school day in all state-funded schools and for an end to the requirement that teachers prepare children for communion and confirmation.
Ahead of this week's teacher conferences, Minister for Education Helen McEntee announced that newly qualified teachers may become eligible for a permanent contract after just one year in a post.
It comes as second-level teacher conferences are due to begin tomorrow in Killarney and in Wexford.
The issue of Leaving Certificate reform promises to dominate debate at both the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland and the Teachers' Union of Ireland gatherings.
Both unions have called for the introduction of revised subjects to be delayed pending agreement on a broad range of issues.
ASTI and TUI leaders were in talks with the Department of Education last week and those talks are due to resume after Easter.
According to sources within the unions, the talks have centred on issues such as professional development for teachers, the need for additional resources for schools, and extra time for teachers to manage new tasks associated with a greater level of school-based assessment.
