Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 January 2014
302. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on correspondence regarding a school (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4282/14]
View answerAs part of the Budget 2012 decisions, the number of pupils required to gain and retain a classroom teaching post in small primary schools is being gradually increased between September 2012 and September 2014. An appeals process is available to small schools which have had their staff number reduced as a result of the budget measure. The school referred to by the Deputy submitted an appeal to the Primary Staffing Appeals Board. The appeal was refused as it did not meet the appeal criteria. The Primary Staffing Appeals Board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final.Staffing arrangements at primary level for the 2014/15 school year are set out in Circular 0007/2014 which is now available on the Department website. The enrolment tables for the operation of the staffing schedule for the 2014/2015 school year are listed at Appendix A of the circular. This enables schools to check their mainstream staffing levels for the 2014/2015 school year.
The circular also provides information on GAM/EAL (General Allocation Model and Language Support) for the 2014/2015 school year. The GAM/EAL allocation for the 2014/2015 reflects changes in the number of classroom posts in the school in the 2013/2014 school year. The GAM/EAL allocation for all schools is listed in Appendix C of Circular 0007/2014.
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 resource teaching support 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. It is a matter for schools to monitor and utilise their allocation of additional teaching support to best support the needs of identified pupils, in accordance with my Department's guidance.All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.
