Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

The overall level of special needs assistant, SNA, support in the special school in Kildare, referred to by the Deputy, is being reviewed by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. The school is a special school for pupils with moderate general learning difficulties and severe to profound learning difficulties and also has a number of classes for pupils with autism. The NCSE will assess the care needs of the new pupils in the context of the overall care needs of current pupils and also take into account the existing levels of SNA support available to the school. Notwithstanding the outcome of this review, it is the position of both my Department and the NCSE that, given the exceptionally high levels of teaching and support staff which have been allocated to the school, it has sufficient existing supports to provide for the teaching and care requirements of all of the children enrolled in the school, pending the completion of the review.

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