I thank Deputy Naughten for raising this issue on the Adjournment. Let me outline the current position on this matter.
The Department of Education and Science involvement in the provision of special needs assistant posts to schools has a very specific focus. It is confined to the allocation of such posts to support class teachers in catering for in-school needs of children with a disability. The special needs assistant service does not extend to activities undertaken by schools outside of school hours and should not be viewed as a substitute for support previously provided under FÁS schemes.
The role of special needs assistants includes: giving general assistance to class teachers under the direction of the principal teacher; preparing and tidying the classroom; assisting children to board and alight from school buses and, where necessary, travelling as an escort on school buses; giving special assistance to children with particular difficulties such as feeding, toileting and general hygiene.
In October 1998, the Government decided that all children with special needs within the primary school system, including special schools, should have an automatic entitlement to the support they require to enable them to function successfully within the education system. As a result of this decision, the number of special needs assistants in the primary school system has grown from fewer than 300 in October 1998 to more than 1,700 at present.
The school to which the Deputy refers caters for pupils with a moderate general learning disability. It also has two classes for children with severe to profound general learning disability and two classes for children with autism. The school has a current allocation of ten special needs assistant posts. This includes two additional posts which were recently allocated to the school in line with the recent announcement of a package of measures to improve support services for children with autism. The package also included proposals to extend education services for children with autism through the month of July and the development of a nation-wide pre-school service for children with autism.
The level of special needs assistant support provided by the Department of Education and Science to schools catering for children with special needs, including the school to which the Deputy refers, reflects the level of such support recommended by the Special Education Review Committee which specified particular support rates for each disability group. The Department will consider any application for an increased level of special needs assistant support where the in-school needs of the pupils involved warrant such an increase.