Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 September 2014
229. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on special needs assistants additional funding that has been given to schools in Dublin 3, 5, 9, 13 and County Dublin for 2014-15; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35106/14]
View answerThe National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. The criteria by which SNA support is allocated to pupils is set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) have allocated over 10,900 Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts in schools to support students with special needs for the 2014/2015 school year. The exact numbers of SNAs will become clear when enrolments of students in mainstream schools are finalised later this month. The deployment of SNAs within schools is a matter for the individual Principal/Board of Management. SNAs should be deployed by the school in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated. It is a matter for schools to allocate support as required, and on the basis of individual need, which allows schools flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised. It is important to note that each school's allocation of SNA support can change from year to year and may be increased or decreased as students who qualify for SNA support enrol or leave a school. New students with care needs may, or may not, enrol to replace students who have left, for example, or SNA allocations may be decreased where a child's care needs have diminished over time. There is always a significant churn of posts within the system. Details of the SNA allocations to schools including in the areas referred to by the Deputy and the mechanism for schools/ parents to appeal a decision in relation to the allocation of SNA support by the NCSE are available on the NCSE website at www.ncse.ie. As Special Needs Assistants are paid directly by my Department the Deputy should be aware that individual schools do not receive additional funding to meet such costs.
