Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)

The first issue I want to raise relates to SNA allocation. This is similar to what Deputy O'Rourke brought up. I was contacted by a local school last week. On Friday evening, the school got notification of its SNA allocation for the year. It had two SNAs and it has three students with significant needs enrolled in junior infants for this autumn. In order to allow the principal to accept those students, he sought a review of the SNA allocation in March with two SENOs. They sat down with him and the deputy principal to go through it and recommended the school get an increase of 0.83, which is a junior infant or senior infant class SNA. When the allocation came out, there were only two SNAs.

I contacted the NCSE and I have written an email to the Minister of State on the situation. The NCSE told me that all schools would be contacted on this and if there are reviews to be held around changing circumstances, as in new students enrolling from the autumn, there will be a review held between now and then. I do not understand, however, how a principal can accept students if they do not know if they have the resources to deal with them. The reason this principal sought a review in March was so he could tell the parents he would accept those three students into the school. Now, he is left in limbo and does not know if he will get that SNA allocation or if he will have to go back to those parents to say he is not sure yet. The NCSE said it will probably be August but schools are now in summer recess.

If this is happening across the board - maybe there was a mistake in this instance - this leaves schools in a situation where they do not know whether they can accept students with additional needs because they do not know if they have the resources to do so.