Seán Sherlock
Question:422. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education the position regarding recent decisions not to allocate SNA support in 46 out of 47 applications made by schools in an area (details supplied). [37873/21]
View answerTuesday, 13 July 2021
Questions (422)
Written answers
The provision of education for children with special needs is an ongoing priority for Government. The numbers of special classes, special education teachers and Special Needs Assistants are at unprecedented levels.
My Department will spend approximately €2 Billion, or over 20% of its total educational budget on making additional provision for children with special educational needs in 2021. This represents an increase of over 50% in total expenditure since 2011, at which point €1.247 Billion per annum was provided. Following Budget 2021, it is expected that a total of 18,000 Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts will have been allocated to primary, post primary and special schools by the end of this year. This will represent an increase of increase of 70% in the number of SNAs provided since 2011 at which point 10,575 SNAs were available.
The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. The Department does not have a role in making individual school determinations. Accordingly your question has been forwarded to the NCSE for direct reply.
The NCSE publish statistics on SNA allocations to primary, post primary and special schools in tabular form, by county, for each school year, this information is available on their website, www.ncse.ie. The NCSE manages the exceptional review process and handles each case individually. Some review requests can be concluded as an office based exercise, whilst others require a school to be visited. The timeframe for concluding a review can vary depending on the school context or the nature of the information provided.
The NCSE have advised that a significant number of schools were notified of incomplete applications due to the omission of required information on the online application form. In order to assist schools with this, the NCSE are currently developing a webinar to support schools who may be considering submitting an application.
Schools now considering appeal, or re-application where there is new information, are advised to contact their local SENO should they need assistance with the application process. Contact details can be found on the NCSE website at ncse.ie/regional-services-contact-list.