Vol. 572 No. 6
226 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of requests for special needs assistants received by his Department up to the most recent deadline; the number sanctioned; the number refused; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24111/03]
The special education section of my Department received in the region of 5,500 applications for special educational needs assistance from 1,830 schools during the period 15 February to 31 August 2003. Of these, some 910 applications in respect of new entrants were prioritised in an effort to ensure resources were in place to enable these children to access the education system. Some 656 of the applications were in respect of some level of special needs assistant – SNA – support. SNAs were not approved in 100 cases and access to SNA support was sanctioned in the case of 556 applicants.
