Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 May 2015
484. Deputy Regina Doherty asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide, in tabular format, the number of special needs assistants in both primary and post-primary schools, each year for the past five years; the number of pupils in receipt of such hours each year for the past five years; and the annual cost for the past five years. [17558/15]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that there are now more Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) available for allocation than ever before. This Government committed, as part of the budget announcements made last year, to provide for 365 new Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts to support children with special educational needs in schools in 2015. This increase is additional to the increase of 390 posts which this Government announced in December 2013, which had raised the previous cap from 10,575 available SNA posts to 10,965 posts.
The total number of SNAs available for allocation in 2015 is therefore now 11,330 posts, which is the highest number of SNAs available for allocation that we have ever had. This will ensure that children with special educational care needs can continue to participate in education and be supported in a manner appropriate to their needs.
The information requested by the Deputy has been provided in the table.
|
Special Needs Assistants |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
SNA posts Whole Time equivalent (at end-Dec) |
10,543 |
10,117 |
10,390 |
10,585 |
11,121 |
|
Est. Cost. |
€348m |
€334 |
€343 |
€349m |
€360m |
|
No of pupils Primary, Post Primary and Special Schools (per school year) |
Approx. 20,000 |
Over 20,000/22,000 |
Over 22,000/23,000 |
Over 23,000/24,000 |
Over 24,000 |
