Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this important issue for debate. I am please the Minister will attend.

Sonas special junior primary school in Carrigaline, County Cork, caters for autistic children between three and six years of age. Late last week, the teachers, parents and everyone associated with the school were devastated when they received the news that the school was going to lose four SNA posts from the beginning of the next school year in September 2012. The school currently has 16 SNA posts and, therefore, the proposal is that it will lose one quarter of its SNA allocation in one fell swoop.

It is important to put on record that this school carries out tremendous work dealing with children who have the most need, including children on the ASD spectrum. Yesterday I met the mother of a five-year old girl attending the school who is non-verbal and not toilet trained. However, along with the 23 other pupils attending the Sonas school, she is now at risk of losing her special needs assistant. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, conducted the review of the special needs assistant, SNA, provision at Sonas and concluded that the school could do with four fewer SNA posts than the current number. This is an outrageous decision. It is an all-out attack on the most vulnerable children in our society. Of the 24 pupils in the school at present, some 14 will leave shortly. Some will progress to mainstream schools and others to special classes in autumn this year. A further 14 children will take their place in Sonas. For children with autism the transition in moving to a new school or starting in a school such as Sonas poses considerable challenges. It is a difficult transition.

The high turnover of pupils in any given year poses huge challenges for the staff who carry out such excellent work in the school. They have made the point to me passionately, as have the parents, that they need the supports and the SNA posts currently allocated. I would have thought that children with the needs those attending Sonas have would all have SNA posts but this is not the position. Typically, the classes comprise six pupils with four SNAs and one teacher. It is proposed that four of the 16 SNA posts will be lost. I understand the financial situation and the situation regarding capping. However, these children have the greatest need and I do not understand how with the stroke of a pen it can be decided that the school can get by with a reduction of one quarter of the SNA support posts currently in place.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Michael McGrath for raising this issue. As the Deputy is aware 10,575 special needs assistant posts are available for allocation to schools for the 2012-13 school year. This is the same number of posts available for allocation in the current school year. Therefore, there has been no reduction in the overall number of SNA posts available for allocation in the coming school year. The Government has maintained funding for special education and for SNA support at a time when there has been a requirement to make expenditure savings in range of areas. With equitable and careful management and distribution of these resources it is considered that there will be sufficient posts to provide access to SNA support for all children who require such care and support to attend school in accordance with departmental criteria.

Through its network of local special educational needs organisers, SENOs, the National Council for Special Education is responsible for allocating special needs assistants to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support and this includes a requirement for it to have regard to the overall cap on numbers. In the context of the overall limit on the number of SNA posts available, it is necessary for the NCSE to prioritise applications and to distribute SNA resources equitably and efficiently throughout all schools. One of the priority criteria applied in the allocation of SNA posts is to ensure that the minimum SNA to special class ratio is maintained in special schools and special classes.

In the case of the school referred to by the Deputy, a special school for children with autism, I understand it has an enrolment of 24 pupils at present with staffing of one principal and five mainstream class teachers as well as 16 SNAs. This is a total of 22 staff catering for the needs of 24 pupils and equates to an SNA to pupil ratio of 1:1.5 and an overall adult to pupil ratio of 1:1.1. This is an exceptionally high level of support and is considerably in excess of the current recommended SNA ratio for special class groups, including children with autism spectrum disorder, as outlined in the Department of Education and Skills circular 0038/10, that is to say, a ratio of two SNAs per special class group of six children.

The NCSE has advised all schools, including the school referred to by the Deputy, of their SNA allocation for the current school year, taking into account the care needs of qualifying pupils attending each school. Schools have been advised to make applications to the NCSE for SNA support for the 2012-13 school year by 16 March 2012. They will be advised of their allocation for the 2012-13 school year by late May or early June 2012 based on the number of valid applications received by 16 March. Therefore, no final SNA allocation for 2012-13 has been made for this school yet. Whereas the NCSE has indicated to the school that based on its current pupil numbers it has four surplus SNA posts, until any applications for potential new entrants for the 2012-13 school year are considered no final determination will be made. I understand the NCSE is due to meet representatives of the school shortly to discuss staffing requirements for the coming school year. The NCSE will advise the school by late May or early June of its SNA allocation for the 2012-13 school year.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for setting out the Department's position on this issue. This was a callous decision and one which should be revisited. I welcome the confirmation from the Minister of State that the final allocation for 2012-13 has not been made yet. However, parents are frightened that their children will lose the SNA support currently in place. The Minister of State referred to an exceptionally high level of support in the school. This is true but these are exceptional children and their needs are extraordinary. I know the school and I have visited it on several occasions. I know of the challenges faced by the SNAs and the mainstream teachers working there. Like any parent, these parents simply want the best for their children. The research clearly proves that the outcomes will be affected if the supports are not put in place early.

I realise the Minister is working within an overall cap in the number of posts. However, I cannot understand how a school such as Sonas, which has extraordinary requirements, will lose one quarter of its SNA allocation under the arrangements put in place by the NCSE given that the overall numbers will not change. I plead with the Minister of State and his colleagues to revisit this decision and to avail of the opportunity to take a second look at this issue, to allow the children attending Sonas to be given the same opportunity that every other child has and to allow the school to retain the current SNA provision.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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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.