Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 November 2012
346. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide in tabular form the number of persons employed on the SESS Advisors Behaviour Team and the number of those advisors who hold a BCBA qualification. [48168/12]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware of the brief of the Special Education Support Service (SESS) in relation to the provision of continuing professional development (CPD) and support for teachers in the area of special educational needs in the learning and teaching context. Currently, there are eighteen full-time members on the SESS team together with one part-time specialist adviser.
The SESS has a number of teams involved in the provision of CPD and support to teachers of students with challenging behaviour; the Challenging Behaviour Team, the Autism Team and the Contemporary Applied Behaviour Analysis Team. Thirteen members of the SESS are directly involved in these teams. I am satisfied that the SESS are making appropriate provision to support teachers and schools in this area. One SESS team member holds a BCBA qualification with three others currently working towards obtaining this specific qualification.
