Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 October 2014
181. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which special needs teachers and special needs assistants are adequate in terms of numbers sufficient to meet requirements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38453/14]
View answerDespite the ongoing requirement to make expenditure savings across a range of areas, expenditure in 2013 supporting pupils with Special Educational Needs was some €1.3bn or approximately 15% of the entire budget of my Department.
Provision includes over 11,000 learning support/resource teacher posts, including those provided under the General Allocation model, in mainstream primary and post primary schools providing additional teaching support to pupils with special educational needs.
For children for whom mainstream provision is not appropriate, placement may be made in one of the 125 special schools which have approximately 1,000 teachers and approximately 860 special classes and units located around the country.
This year, provision is being made for up to 10,965 Special Needs Assistants (SNAs), of whom over 10,900 SNAs have initially been allocated to schools in September. This is an increase of 390 posts on the previous cap of 10,575 posts. This is the highest level of SNA allocation that we have ever had. The policy of the Government is that every child who is assessed as needing SNA support will receive access to such support.
I want to assure the Deputy of my commitment to continue to provide appropriate high quality resources to schools for the education of children with special educational needs.
