Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 November 2012
375. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide in tabular form the current level of spending in his Department with respect to children with special educational needs and the comparative figures for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. [48629/12]
View answer376. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Education and Skills the current number of special needs assistants in the system and the comparative figures for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. [48630/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 375 and 376 together.
I wish to advise the Deputy that this Government remains committed to the protection of frontline services for pupils with special educational needs. The Programme for Government sets out that education will be a priority for this Government and that we will endeavour to protect and enhance the educational experience of children, young people and students. The continued commitment of this Government to special education provision, at a time when savings are being required across a range of expenditure areas has ensured that children with special educational needs can continue to have access to educational facilities in line with their requirements.
Approximately 15% of the entire budget of my Department – some €1.3 billion – was spent in support of children with Special Educational Needs in 2011. The provision for the current year, 2012, is in line with expenditure last year and shows that despite the current economic difficulties, the overall level of funding for special education has not been cut. 10,575 whole time equivalent Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts are available to the NCSE to allocate this year, in respect of valid applications received, which is unchanged over the number of posts available for allocation in 2011. The final details of spending for this year, and of the number of SNA posts allocated, will not be known until the end of the year. The specific information requested by the Deputy in relation to 2007-2011 is attached in tabular format.
|
Year |
Number of Special Needs Assistants 2007 - 2011 |
Special Educational Needs Spend |
|
2007 |
9,824 |
€838m |
|
2008 |
10,442 |
€900m |
|
2009 |
10,342 |
€1b |
|
2010 |
10,543 |
€1.2b |
|
*2011 |
10,117 - (10,320) |
€1.3b |
* The total number of SNA posts approved by the NCSE for the 2011/12 school year was 10,320. The figure of 10,117 represents the number of posts in place at the end of Dec 2011.
The NCSE allocated the bulk of SNA posts to schools at September 2011, based on the number of valid applications on hand at that time. This left 475 posts from the overall designated provision of 10,575 posts for later allocation throughout the school year to deal with emergency cases, new injuries or diagnosis, or new school entrants.
By the end of the 2011/12 school year, at June 2012, the NCSE had approved the allocation of 10,320 SNA posts to schools, from within the overall cap of 10,575 posts.
All children who qualified for access to SNA support, in accordance with the terms of the SNA scheme during 2011/12, received access to SNA support and there were sufficient posts to provide for such support from within the overall provision of 10,575 posts.
