“Some of the schools may now come together and share and make a class out of two schools and that is an option I am willing to discuss with the schools in question,” Mr O’Keeffe said.

The INTO said the suggestion of rationalising rather than abolishing 128 special classes was a sign that the Minister understood the consequences of his earlier announcement for the children concerned.

“At long last it seems the Minister is prepared to look at the needs of children rather than trying to save what in national terms is petty cash,” INTO general secretary John Carr said.

“It now appears the Minister is prepared to examine the matter as an educational issue rather than a financial one only,” he said.

But Mr O’Keeffe claimed “it has been felt for some time in educational circles that children with mild intellectual disabilities were better off with their peers in the general classroom”.

He said many special needs classes had been disbanded and the pupils in these schools were now integrating into the normal class with the resource/learning supports allocated under the General Allocation Model introduced in 2005.

“I have checked with some of the teachers in these schools and they are quite confident that students and pupils with mild general intellectual disabilities can integrate properly and can grow within those circumstances,” Mr O’Keeffe said.

Mr Carr acknowledged that some schools had voluntarily closed special classes and integrated children.

“But what the Minister failed to say was that this resulted from assessments by parents, teachers and other professionals of what was best for the children in question. Such decisions were based on children’s interests, not financial considerations,” Carr said.

The move to abolish 128 special needs classes in 119 schools around the country was to be implemented in the next school year.

Under the current rules, primary schools are allowed to establish a special needs class if they have 11 pupils with a mild general learning disability.

The department can withdraw the allocation of a special needs teacher in cases where the number of special needs pupils falls below nine. (Source: Irish Times)