Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 June 2012
208 Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a child (details supplied) in County Kildare will not receive a special needs assistant when entering school in September 2012. [30651/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports including resource teaching and Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support, to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of such supports and the staffing resources available to my Department.
All schools had been advised to apply to the NCSE for resource teaching and SNA support for the 2012/13 school year by 16th March, 2012 and schools are currently being notified by SENOs of their resource teaching and SNA allocation for 2012/13, based on the number of valid applications received and, in the case of SNA support, the extent of the care needs of qualifying children.
SNAs should be deployed by schools in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated. It is a matter for schools to allocate support as required, and on the basis of individual need, which allows schools flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised.
All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available onwww.ncse.ie.
209 Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he, his Department or the National Council for Special Education has carried out any analysis into the impact of the 15% cut to resource hours over the past year; the impact that this will have on children with low incidence special educational needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30653/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra210 Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills the total amount of resource hours provided to each pupil with low incidence special educational needs in the 2010/2011 academic year; the total amount of resource hours that will be provided to each pupil for 2012/2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30654/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 209 and 210 together.
Firstly, I wish advise the Deputy that there is no overall reduction in Resource Teaching numbers for the coming school year.
Overall, 9,950 posts will be provided for Resource Teaching support for the 2012/13 school year, the same number as that provided for last year and an increase of 350 over that provided for in 2010.
5,500 of these posts are available to the NCSE for allocation for pupils with assessed low incidence special educational needs. This number cannot be exceeded under the Employment Control Framework (ECF).
For the 2011/12 school year an allocation of 90% of valid identified resource teaching allocations was made to schools by the NCSE to schools in order to provide schools with the majority of their allocation while preserving enough capacity to deal with all applications received and ensure that the Department of Education and Skills remained within ECF obligations.
The number of valid applications received by the NCSE for the 2012/2013 school year to date has risen marginally with rising enrolments in schools. Therefore, in order to ensure there are sufficient remaining posts to make allocations for late or emergency applications, while staying within the ECF, the NCSE will initially allocate 85% of assessed needs to schools.
This will ensure that there are a sufficient number of posts retained to make allocations for late or emergency applications, while staying within the ECF.
The total amount of resource hours provided to pupils with low incidence special educational needs in the 2010/11 school year was 122,670. This compares with 114,450 to date in the 2012/13 school year. In addition, the NCSE has a further 430 Whole Time Equivalent posts available to meet late or emergency applications that arise in primary and post primary schools during the 2012/13 school year. This will enable the NCSE to provide between 9,460 and 10,750 additional hours to meet such applications for the coming school year.
The allocation of resource hours in respect of individual pupils ranges from 180 minutes to 300 minutes per week in accordance with the category of disability as set out in my Department's Circular 02/05. This is the allocation which applied in the 2010/11 school year. The application of an 85% allocation in the 2012/13 school year is equivalent to 153 minutes to 255 minutes resource hours per week, in accordance with the category of disability set out in my Department's Circular 02/05.
Schools are being asked to make up any time lost through grouping of students and more effective management of teaching time, to ensure that every child who needs support can access support and are treated the same.
As such, schools have responsibility to monitor and utilise these resources to best support the needs of qualifying pupils, in accordance with my Departments guidance. Neither my Department nor the NCSE is in a position to monitor or analyse how schools use these resources.
Finally, I wish to assure the Deputy that it is my intention that resources available to my Department are utilised to optimum benefit to ensure the best possible outcomes for students with special educational needs. In this regard my Department is seeking advice from the NCSE on policy options for the allocation of these resources in future, with a view to ensuring that the most appropriate and efficient model is in place in the coming years.
