Gary Gannon
Question:467. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Education the estimated cost of increasing the current special needs assistant allocation by 10%. [17683/22]
View answerTuesday, 5 April 2022
Questions (467)
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.
The State currently spends in excess of 25% of its annual education and training budget (€9.2 Billion) on making additional provision for children with special educational needs.
This represents an increase of over 60% in total expenditure since 2011, at which point €1.247 Billion per annum was provided.
Budget 2022 provides funding for an additional 1,165 SNAs (in 2022) to provide support to children with special educational needs, which will bring the total number of SNAs available for allocation to 19,169 at the end of December 2022.
Provision for 19,169 SNAs as at 31 December 2022 will represent an increase of 81% since 2011 at which time 10,575 were provided.
The pay at entry of a new entrant SNA, inclusive of employer PRSI, is €30,001 so the estimated cost of increasing the current SNA allocation by an additional 10% would be €57,508,916.