These guidelines offer information on space planning and design for school principals, boards of
management and designers to make permanent learning facilities available for pupils with special
educational needs across the 26 counties of Ireland. The guidelines reflect many of the recent changes
in the country’s educational system, changes that have placed greater demands on schools for additional
space to account for a growing range of teaching and support services for pupils with autistic spectrum
disorders, emotional disturbance and/or behaviour problems, speech and language difficulties, hearing
impairment, visual impairment, multi-sensory impairment, and other needs.
