Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 January 2013
90. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children with special educational needs in primary and secondary schools; the percentage of school children with special educational needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4768/13]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports. In relation to the number of pupils with intellectual disability who are enrolled in primary and post primary schools, I wish to advise the Deputy that all mainstream primary schools have been allocated additional teaching resources under the General Allocation Model (GAM) to cater for children with high incidence special educational needs, including mild and borderline mild general learning difficulties. It is a matter for school authorities to determine how these hours are utilised to support eligible pupils. My Department therefore does not hold details of the number of pupils being supported through this mechanism. It is therefore not possible to identify the total numbers of pupils enrolled in mainstream schools who have some form of intellectual disability.
I can advise the Deputy that the NCSE developed estimates on the prevalence of special educational needs as part of its process to advise the Minister on the implementation of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN), Act 2004. The Council estimated at that time that up to 18% of the school going population may have a special educational need, as defined under the EPSEN Act, while a more recent NCSE Report: A Study of the Prevalence of Special Educational Needs (2011) estimates that this figure may be even higher that 18% of the pupil population.
