Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 November 2013
66. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the potential cost to the State of increasing the number of special needs assistants employed by his Department from the current figure of 10,575 to 12,775. [48630/13]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that the previous Government, as part of the Programme for National Recovery, introduced a cap on the number of Special Needs Assistants. This figure was set at 10,575 posts and has remained in place since the 2011/12 school year.
Since the cap was introduced, every child meeting the criteria for access to SNA support has received this support, with some remaining posts available each year for allocation throughout the school year for new assessments of disability, new entrants, or emergency or late applications, in accordance with the terms of the SNA scheme.
Increasing the number of Special Needs Assistant posts from 10,575 posts to 12,775 posts would require an additional 2,200 SNA posts to be provided for annually. The full year cost of providing for an additional 2,200 posts is estimated to be €66 Million, per annum.
