Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am glad that I was in a position this week to announce that 975 additional SNAs will be made available for allocation to schools from September 2017. Schools have been informed of this, following on from a Government decision this week on the matter.

This represents an increase of 7.5% in the number of SNAs for this year and a 32% increase over the years since 2011 in the allocation of SNAs. The method of allocation followed this year, which provides for the allocations to be made in late June-early July, is the same method that has been followed for the past six years. The Deputy is correct that this is not satisfactory. It was done in this way because there was not a satisfactory forecasting model for identifying at Estimate’s time the level of necessary provision. This allocation requires Government decision each year after the NCSE has done an assessment, which creates an additional bureaucratic obstacle in making these decisions. We intend, for the coming year, to make these decisions at Estimates time.

The NCSE has been working on a more reliable forecasting model which is now proving itself in terms of the reliability of the data for this year. The NCSE is undertaking a comprehensive assessment of this model, as the Deputy knows. We are keen to improve the SNA model. We have had consultations and people have indicated that they believe improvements can be made to the way in which the SNA service is delivered and other needs of children are met. The Deputy will be aware of the commitment in the programme for Government that speech and language should be delivered in-school to make it easier for children to access it.

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