Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

I thoroughly respect the fact that the Deputy must advocate for the school in his constituency and I do not doubt the veracity of the case made by him in respect of the school and the good work it carries out. However, the Deputy has admitted an overall cap is in place. A process is under way in respect of SNA allocation and we should have regard to this fact. The Deputy's claim that this a callous decision must be tackled in the sense that the overall budget within the Department of Education and Skills has been reduced and we must ask ourselves why we have come to this stage. I take the point made by the Deputy but given that it is a special junior primary school I am hopeful that the National Council for Special Education will have regard to this fact and a process is under way.

The allocation of SNAs to schools changes over time and we should acknowledge this. Children may have diminishing care needs over time. Some children leave school at the end of each school year and the pupil population of a school may change over time. It is important to note that the SNA allocation process for the 2012-13 school year is still under way. Schools have been advised to make applications by 16 March and they will be advised of their SNA allocation by late May. The case is well made by the Deputy and I hope the NCSE will have regard to this during its deliberations.

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