Seán Sherlock
Question:375. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education if matters raised in correspondence (details supplied) will be examined. [36264/22]
View answerTuesday, 5 July 2022
Questions (375)
Written answers
I would like to thank the Deputy for bringing this matter to my attention.
Enabling children with special educational needs (SEN) to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government.
It is also a key priority for me as Minister for Special Education & Inclusion, for my Department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
The Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs.
Such support is provided in order to facilitate the attendance of those pupils at school and also to minimise disruption to class or teaching time for the pupils concerned, or for their peers, and with a view to developing their independent living skills.
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 to 19,169 at the end of December 2022.
I am committed to supporting developing schools to ensure that resources are available to support their growing enrolment and the care needs of their students.
My department officials along with NCSE officials have been consulting with educational partners (school management bodies) representing developing schools in recent weeks to try to ensure that SNA resources are available to support these schools from the start of the new school year.
The school mentioned in the question was included in the list of schools discussed with the management bodies and I would urge the school in question to raise their resourcing concerns with their local NCSE Special Education Needs Organiser (SENO) as soon as possible so that a review of their SNA resources can be prioritised.
All schools have the contact details of their local SENO, and the SENO is available to offer assistance and advice to the school.
Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.