Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

No, because they are not necessarily proportionate. We have capped the number of SNAs at 10,575. I have not yet had a chance to look at the recommendations from the NCSE this year. We will be publishing them quite soon. However, it is not a pro rata increase per se. It is not a demographically correlated ratio of SNAs to population. It is related specifically to the estimated needs as assessed by the SENOs and the services of the NCSE, and despite population growth those numbers are relatively stable. I am trying to protect the budget allocation so we are keeping the figure at 10,575. Also, there was some controversy due to a misunderstanding in communications within the system. The NCSE is making an allocation of approximately 150 below the total of 10,575, if memory serves, based on the applications that came in through the process. That reserve of 150 is for late applicants or cases that manifest themselves, so we have money and resources within that envelope to allocate them during the year. I have been given the actual figure. The allocation proposed for 2013 is 10,410.