Special Educational Needs Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 April 2018

Tuesday, 24 April 2018

Questions (231, 232, 233, 234)

Tom Neville

Question:

231. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of resource teachers recruited in each of the years 2005 to 2017 and to date in 2018, in tabular form. [17834/18]

Tom Neville

Question:

232. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of SNAs recruited in each of the years 2005 to 2017 and to date in 2018, in tabular form. [17835/18]

Tom Neville

Question:

233. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of special classes the National Council for Special Education plans to open in 2018, in tabular form. [17836/18]

Tom Neville

Question:

234. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of special classes opened in each of the years 2005 to 2017 and to date in 2018, in tabular form. [17837/18]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

I propose to take Questions Nos. 231 to 234, inclusive, together.

Ensuring that children with special educational needs are supported and given the opportunity to reach their full potential is a key priority for this government.

My Department's policy aims to ensure that all children with Special Educational Needs can have access to an education appropriate to their needs, preferably in school settings through the primary and post primary school network.

Such placements facilitate access to individualised education programmes which may draw from a range of appropriate educational interventions, delivered by fully qualified professional teachers, with the support of Special Needs Assistants and the appropriate school curriculum.

All state-funded primary and post primary schools have been allocated additional resources to provide for children with special educational needs enrolled in school.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports.  The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. 

In 2018, almost €1.8 billion will be invested in Special Education. This represents an increase of almost 43% since 2011 and amounts to almost 20% of the Department’s overall Budget.

To this end my Department has allocated SNA support to over 12,000 extra pupils since 2011 and provided extra Special Education teachers to meet the expansion in children in need of teaching support.

Since 2011, the increase in SNAs has been 3,545, including an additional 2,080 posts in the last two years bringing the current number to some 14,120.

The number of Special Education teachers has increased by 3,660 since 2011, including 1,600 additional posts in the past two years, bringing the current number to 13,400.

The number of special classes has risen by 756 since 2011, including 293 new classes in the past two years bringing the current number to over 1,300. The NCSE have advised my Department that it intends to establish approx. 160 new special classes, including approximately 150 new ASD classes, for the 2018/19 school year.

The NCSE is aware of emerging need from year to year, and where special provision is required it is planned and established to meet that need.

The NCSE continues to progress the planning process to ensure that all students with Special Educational Needs can access supports appropriate to their needs for the 2018/19 school year and beyond.

Tables are provided showing the following:

- The number of SNAs allocated from 2005 to 2018

- The number of special classes from 2010 to 2018 – the number for the years 2005 to 2010 is not readily available, I will arrange to have this information compiled and forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

- The numbers of learning support and resource teachers from 2009 to 2017, and Special Education teachers in 2017/18. As prior to 2009, allocations for resource teaching support were only made to schools once all existing surplus teaching capacity was utilised in schools, allocations for resource teaching were not recorded as a separate entity at that time and are therefore not available for the period prior to 2009.

Number of Special Classes

School Year	No. of Special Classes
2010/11	503
2011/12	548
2012/13	628
2013/14	737
2014/15	855
2015/16	1011
2016/17	1152
2017/18	1304

General Allocation Model Learning Support and Resource Teaching posts

School Year	GAM LS Posts	RT Posts	Total
2009/10	4454	4869	9323
2010/11	4454	5175	9629
2011/12	4475	5265	9740
2012/13	4863	5265	10128
2013/14	4882	5721	10603
2014/15	4954	6203	11157
2015/16	5015	6821	11836
2016/17	5072	7429	12501

New Special Education Allocation Model

Year	Primary	Post Primary	Total
2017/18*	9321	4049	13306

*As at March 2018. Includes 25 posts allocated to the NCSE to develop support services for schools. The remaining 94 posts which have yet to be allocated are available to allocate to schools for appeals, demographic growth, or where exceptional circumstances arise in schools.

SNA Allocations 2005-2017

Year	Allocation of Special Needs Assistants 2005- 2018 (End December Each year)
2005	7294
2006	8390
2007	9824
2008	10,442
2009	10,342
2010	10,543
2011	10,575
2012	10,575
2013	10,745
2014	11,330
2015	12,040
2016	12,900
2017	13990
2018 (to end of June)	14,120