Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 July 2012
150 Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a person (details supplied) in County Kerry has had their special needs assistant taken away; if the SNA will be reinstated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33009/12]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports including resource teaching and Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support, to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of such supports and the staffing resources available to my Department.
All schools had been advised to apply to the NCSE for resource teaching and SNA support for the 2012/13 school year by 16th March, 2012 and schools are currently being notified by SENOs of their resource teaching and SNA allocation for 2012/13, based on the number of valid applications received and, in the case of SNA support, the extent of the care needs of qualifying children.
SNAs should be deployed by schools in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated. It is a matter for schools to allocate support as required, and on the basis of individual need, which allows schools flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised.
All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.
Question No. 151 answered with Question No. 142.
152 Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the allocation of special needs assistants to a particular school (details supplied) in County Cork for the 2012/13 school year is being reassessed; if he will agree to become involved in the matter in view of the exceptional circumstances that apply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33014/12]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is an independent agency with responsibility for determining the appropriate staffing levels in relation to the support of pupils with special educational needs in mainstream and special schools. The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of supports to schools and the staffing resources available to my Department.
The Deputy will appreciate that it would be inappropriate of me to intervene in the resource allocation process which would be to compromise the independence of the role of the NCSE as set out in the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act, 2004.
As I advised the Deputy in my PQ reply of 21 June, the NCSE has confirmed that the SNA allocation for the school in question for the 2012/13 school year is a sufficient level of support to cater for the care needs of all qualifying children in the context of the applications received for the 2012/13 school year. Whereas I understand that schools may wish to maintain current staffing levels, the NCSE must ensure that where there are surplus SNA posts in a school, these must be redirected to meet the needs of children who need this valuable support.
I am sure the Deputy will agree that at a time of constrained resources it is essential that SNA numbers are managed and deployed as prudently and as effectively as possible. Resources left in an area that are not in accordance with criteria mean public resources are not available for another deserving area. It is worth noting that this school has been allocated 12 SNA posts for the forthcoming school year, which is an extensive provision of resources by any measure.
It is expected that schools seeking to have their SNA provision reviewed, before requesting any review of their SNA provision, will be in a position to demonstrate that they have made every effort to manage their allocation of SNA posts to best effect. It is open to schools to contact their local SENO in this regard, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.
