Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2015
1004. Deputy Noel Coonan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if resource hours or additional special needs assistant hours will be allocated to a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38349/15]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to schools to support children with special educational needs.
The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support.
All schools were asked to apply for SNA and resource teaching support for the 2015/16 school year by 18 March 2015. The NCSE also continued to accept applications after this date in recognition that enrolments may not have been completed or where assessments were not completed.
The NCSE has now published details of SNA and resource teaching allocations for schools for the 2015/16 school year on its website at www.ncse.ie.
The deployment of SNA support and organisation of resource teaching support within schools is a matter for individual schools to manage, taking into account each child's individual needs. Parents who have concerns regarding the manner in which the resources or facilities which have been provided to support their child's education are being applied in school should, in the first instance, raise this matter directly with their school Principal or the Board of Management of the school.
Details of the manner in which a school or parent may appeal the level of SNA or resource teaching allocation which has been made to support a child in school, to the NCSE, is set out on the NCSE website.
It should also be noted that all schools receive allocations for learning support/resource teaching support either under the General Allocation model at primary schools, or through allocations for learning support at post primary school level, which they may utilize to provide additional teaching support for pupils who require assistance in their school.
All schools have the contact details of their local SENO, while Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available the NCSE website.
As this question relates to an allocation for an individual child, I will arrange to have the matter referred to the NCSE for their attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
