Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 April 2014
235. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether children with Down's syndrome should be entitled to special needs assistants in school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17522/14]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that my Department allocates significant resources to ensure that pupils with special educational needs, including pupils with Down syndrome, can participate fully in education. The policy of my Department is that children with special educational needs should be included in mainstream placements with additional supports provided. In circumstances where children with special educational need require more specialised interventions, special school or special class places are also available. Pupils who have care needs, including pupils with Down syndrome, may receive access to Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support in schools. Many children with Down syndrome have access to such SNA support.
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. The criteria by which SNA support is allocated to pupils is set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014. The NCSE invited schools to make applications for SNA support for children who have assessed care needs for the coming 2014/15 school year by 26th March 2014, for their consideration. Details of the NCSE application criteria are available at www.ncse.ie.
Although the date for applications has passed, if the school wish to make an application for SNA support for a child who has assessed care needs, and has not done so to date, they should still submit an application for SNA support to the NCSE and this will be considered by the NCSE. 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.
