Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2015
443. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to reverse cuts, introduced during the economic recession, in the services to children with special educational needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6786/15]
View answerBudget 2015 included an increase in spending on education for the first time in recent years, amounting to additional funding of €60m during 2015.
This funding will be used to provide 1,700 additional teachers and SNAs for our schools, as well as to fund prioritised reforms, such as implementation of the literacy and numeracy strategy, reform of junior cycle, and the introduction of education focussed pre-school inspections.
This Government has been resolutely committed to protecting, and where possible, increasing, the level of investment being made to support children with special educational needs at a time when there has been a requirement to make expenditure reductions across a range of areas. It is an area of spending which has been prioritised above most other areas by this Government, despite the enormous pressures on all areas of public spending.
Some €1.37 billion will be spent in support of children with Special Educational Needs this year, which represents approximately 15% of my Department's budget.
There has been no reduction in the overall number of Special Needs Assistant or resource teaching/learning support posts being provided for schools.
On the contrary, 365 new Special Needs Assistant posts and 480 new resource teaching posts have been provided to support children with special educational needs in schools in 2015, bringing the total number of SNAs available for allocation in 2015 to 11,330 posts and the total number of resource teaching posts to 6,705.
Over 11,000 resource and learning support teaching posts are now available. This is the highest level of SNA and resource teaching allocations that we have ever had, and will ensure that children with special educational needs can continue to participate in education and be supported in a manner appropriate to their needs.
