Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 October 2013
69. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding special needs assistants (details supplied) in County Kerry following a review of the existing support that was due to take place on 18 September; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42830/13]
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, including the allocation of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to schools. The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of Special Education supports and the staffing resources available to my Department. All schools were advised to apply to the NCSE for resource teaching and SNA support for the 2013/14 school year by 15 March, 2013. The NCSE published details of all of their allocations for resource teaching and SNA support for the 2013/2014 school year in June. These details are now available on the NCSE website, www.ncse.ie, and detail the allocations made for each school on a per county basis. The NCSE subsequently requested all schools to submit outstanding applications for resource teaching and SNA support to the NCSE by 20 September, 2013. These applications are being processed by the NCSE. Schools can contact the NCSE if they have enrolled children who were not considered at the time that the SNA allocations were made to schools, or where they are seeking a revision to the quantum of SNA support which has been allocated to them. In general, a revision to SNA allocations will only be made in circumstances where schools have enrolled new pupils, or where schools can demonstrate that they do not have sufficient SNA posts to cater for the care needs of all of the qualifying children in their school.
As the Deputy's question refers to an individual SNA allocation and to a proposed review of a schools SNA allocation by the NCSE, I have arranged for the Deputy's question to be forwarded to the NCSE for its attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
