The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for allocating Special Needs Assistat (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school.
The consideration of professional reports is an integral part of determining the extent of supports to be provided for pupils with special educational needs.
It is the role of the NCSE to process applications from schools for SNA support, taking into account the frequency and extent of the care needs as referenced in the professional report, the manner in which they arise in a school setting and in this regard, the evidence the school can provide to support the application.
By the end of this year, there will be up to 15,950 SNAs supporting in the region of 37,500 pupils who have been assessed as requiring access to SNA support.
The NCSE publish statistics on SNA allocations, including allocations by county, for each school year and this information is available on their website, www.ncse.ie.