I propose to take Questions Nos. 129 and 132 together.
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.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for the planning and cordination of education provision for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNA posts.
The following table outlines the total number of SNA posts allocated to schools since December 2018.
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SNA allocations as at 31st December
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Total
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31/12/2018 (2018/19 school year)
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14,973
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31/12/2019 (2019/20 school year)
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15,948
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31/12/2020 (2020/21 school year)
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17,014
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31/12/2021 (2021/22 school year)
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18,004
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31/12/2022 (2022/23 school year) Planned
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19,169
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When a school has been allocated an SNA, the Board of Management, as the employer, is responsible for filling the vacancy and the decision on whether to employ a full time SNA to fill a full time post or to employ an equivalent number of part time SNAs rests with the employer. Information of the number of people employed to fill the posts allocated is not available.
Following Budget 2021, it is expected that a total of 18,004 Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts will have been allocated to primary, post primary and special schools by the end of December 2021 .
The NCSE advises that of the 990 post sanction in last year’s budget, 919 have been allocated to date and the remaining 71 will be allocated before the 31st December 2021.
Budget 2022 announced details of €9.2 billion in funding for education and includes funding for an additional 1,165 additional special needs assistants to provide support to children with special educational needs, bringing the total number of SNAs to 19,169 by the end of December 2022. This represents an increase of 81% in the number of SNAs provided since 2011 at which point 10,575 SNAs were available.
The allocation of 1,165 SNAs announced in Budget 2022 is to meet the care needs of pupils in 2022 and will enable the establishment of new special classes, creation of new places in special schools and support children in mainstream classes for the 2022/23 school year.
The allocation of the 1,165 SNA posts covers primary and post-primary schools as follows:
- 574 to support students in new special classes
- 46 to support students in new special school places
- 545 to support students in mainstream classes
The special education funding for 2022 is over a quarter of the current expenditure budget for the Department of Education.
The NCSE publish statistics on SNA allocations to primary, post primary and special schools in tabular form, by county and by school, for each school year, this information is available on their website, www.ncse.ie or by using the following link http://ncse.ie/statistics.
As this question relates to the statistics on the allocation of SNA support, I have referred the question to the NCSE for their direct reply.
