Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 November 2012
291. Deputy John Lyons asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will seek to have a special needs assistant (details supplied) in Dublin 12 registered as a teacher and moved to the teaching pay scale; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47462/12]
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 attending special schools. The NCSE operates within my Department's policy in allocating this support. Circular 0042/2011 provides information to schools regarding the staffing arrangements which apply in special schools for the 2012/13 school year. I understand that the correspondent is employed as a Special Needs Assistant (SNA) in the school. While I appreciate that the correspondent has an interest in a specific subject area, there is no provision for the regrading of the SNA role to that of a teacher, or for adjusting the number of teaching staff in the school outside of the mechanisms outlined in Circular 0042/2011. It is open to the correspondent to seek employment through the normal mechanisms for teacher recruitment in Special Schools, subject to the normal conditions that apply including the requirement that teachers are registered with the Teaching Council and have qualifications appropriate to the sector and suitable to the post for which they are proposed to be employed.
