Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I am not sure of the exact geography. The special education needs organiser, or SENO, along with the parents and children will try to decide on the best allocation. I have the SNA numbers here. They do not reflect pupil numbers but they provide an idea. Of the 32,000 students accessing SNAs, 18,500 are in mainstream classes, 6,300 are in special units and 7,800 are in special schools. There is a distribution across different environments for delivery of special needs assistants depending on the most appropriate accommodation of the child. On the allocation of the SNA, it is always done on the same basis, that they look at the needs of the child from a caring perspective. The allocation is 32,000 and I suspect that sort of pattern would be reflected across most counties. The number of students accessing SNAs in special units has more than doubled in the past five years. There is definitely a change in pattern there.