Thomas Byrne
Question:615. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education when an SNA will be put into place for a pupil whose application has been approved (details supplied). [11204/25]
View answerWednesday, 19 March 2025
Questions (615)
Written answers
This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs.
By the end of the year there will be over 20,800 special educational teachers and 23,400 SNAs in our mainstream classes, special classes and special schools. This will mean we will have over 44,200 teachers and SNAs working in our education system committed to supporting and nurturing children with special educational needs, enabling them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.
SNAs play a central role in the successful inclusion of students with additional and significant care needs into schools. They help ensure that these students can access an education to enable them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.
SNAs are allocated to schools as a school-based resource. Principals/board of management deploy SNAs within schools to meet the care support requirements of the children enrolled whom SNA support has been allocated. This provides schools flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised.
The NCSE has published the SNA allocations for the 2024/25 school year. For ease of reference these allocations are broken down by school type and are available at: www.ncse.ie/set-hours-and-sna-allocations
If a school feels like it has insufficient SNA support to meet the needs of its students an application can be submitted to the NCSE requesting a review of its allocation. Detailed information on the NCSE's SNA review process is published on the NCSE's website. Each case is individually assessed and is based on the student profile of each school.
My Department does not have a role in the allocation of Special Needs Assistants (SNA) to individual schools.
The NCSE has the responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and SNA reviews.
As your question relates to the SNA allocation in an individual school, I have forwarded the question to the NCSE for their direct response to you on the matter raised.
My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.