Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, for attending this debate. I wish to highlight the lack of special needs assistant, SNA, support for children with autism and other special needs in my constituency of Roscommon-Galway. I and many of my colleagues are dealing with cases every week in which parents of children with special needs are struggling and fighting for services for those children in a bid to meet their educational and psychological needs. Like other parents, those parents only want the best for their children but they are constantly encountering obstacles.

I will outline the story of a ten year old boy in my constituency. This boy is non-verbal and presents with autism and associated intellectual disability. He previously had access to resource teaching hours and SNA support on a full-time basis for a number of years in a primary school setting. However, the SNA support has been removed from September 2018, which is having a detrimental effect on his schooling and development. This child needs constant supervision. He has issues with self-care and safety and he is at risk of running out of the classroom or the schoolyard if not properly supervised. The little boy is non-verbal and was making very good progress with his SNA. The family has provided all the assessment reports and the psychology report outlining his case in detail. I have submitted a parliamentary question on this matter. I would be grateful if the Minister could assist this young boy and reinstate his SNA as soon as possible. It is vital for his future educational and psychological needs.

I am aware of another boy in a national school, a neighbour, in the same situation. He needs the full-time care of a SNA but that has been withdrawn. An appeal for that boy has been submitted and I sincerely hope it will be successful.

In a reply to a parliamentary question from me in June last it was indicated that 800 additional SNAs were to be allocated from the beginning of the school year, with 140 expected to be allocated by the end of 2018. I would be happy if the Minister of State could provide an update on those figures even if he does not have it with him today. Have the additional 800 been allocated and, if so, how many have been allocated to the Roscommon and Galway area? I hope we can look after these vulnerable children. I have a nephew and a niece who suffer from autism. They are looked after quite well by the authorities, it must be said, but when I watch their parents I can it is a challenge and a struggle. I have fantastic time for the parents of such children. They make such an effort. It falls to us to make every representation possible on their behalf so they receive the supports.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and I acknowledge his sincerity in doing so. The Minister for Education and Skills also thanks the Deputy for raising this matter and sends his apologies for not being here to reply. The Minister wishes to assure the House that the education of children with special educational needs remains a key priority for the Government. The Government now invests €524 million in the special needs assistant scheme annually, as part of a total €1.75 billion investment in special educational needs overall.

There will be a total of 15,000 SNAs working in our schools, providing support for approximately 36,000 pupils, by the end of this year. This is a 42% increase on 2011 when the number of SNAs stood at 10,575. The Minister welcomes the fact that we have been able to continue to meet the needs of children with special educational needs attending our schools and to increase provision to address emerging needs in this area. The SNA scheme, in particular, has been a major factor in both ensuring the successful integration of children with special educational needs into mainstream education and the provision of support to pupils enrolled in special schools and special classes. The Minister assures the House that schools which have enrolled children who qualify for support from an SNA will continue to be allocated SNA support in a manner appropriate to their needs.

The House will be aware that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, which is an independent agency, is responsible, through its network of local special educational needs organisers, for allocating a quantum of special needs assistant support for each school annually, taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school. Importantly, each school’s allocation of SNA support can change from year to year and may be increased or decreased as students who qualify for SNA support enrol or leave a school. New students with care needs may or may not enrol to replace students who have left, for example, or SNA allocations may be decreased where a child’s care needs have diminished over time.

The NCSE policy advice on supporting students with autism spectrum disorder found that students are generally well supported in schools with: appropriate curriculum; extensive teacher and SNA supports; improving range of educational placements supported by improved accommodation and equipment; improved teacher knowledge and understanding and a generally good standard of provision at primary and post-primary levels. The NCSE policy advice noted that ASD is a spectrum condition, so some students with ASD require little support in school and are relatively independent in their learning while others require significant levels of support. The Department’s policy is to ensure that every child who is assessed as needing SNA support will receive access to such support.

The NCSE has an appeals process, to which the Deputy alluded, which may be invoked by a parent or a school where it is considered that a child was not granted access to SNA support on the grounds that Department policy was not met. Schools may also appeal a decision where the school considers that the NCSE, in applying Department policy, has not allocated the appropriate level of SNA support to the school to meet the care needs of the children concerned. Where a school has received its allocation of SNA support for this school year, but wishes new enrolments or assessments to be considered which were not taken into account when the initial allocation was made, it may continue to make applications to the NCSE.

The Minister for Education and Skills is pleased to advise that schools in Roscommon and Galway have had an increased SNA allocation over the last number of years. Roscommon has been allocated 186 SNA posts for the start of this school year, an increase from the 171 posts allocated for the 2017-2018 school year. The SNA allocation for Galway has also increased from just over 778 posts for the last school year to over 819 posts for this school year. This is an increase of 9% and 5%, respectively, for Roscommon and Galway for this school year.

As part of budget 2018 funding is being allocated for the recruitment of more than 1,000 new SNAs in 2018. There were 70 allocations made between January and June, 800 additional SNA posts were made available for allocation to schools in September 2018 to meet the demands for the new school year and there is an additional allocation of 140 posts expected between September and December 2018, bringing the total to 1,000.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his detailed response. In fairness, extra SNAs have been appointed. All of us agree that, in general, they do a fantastic job. They build up a great relationship with the children and their parents. They give the children much care, love and attention.

In most circumstances, it works out well. My concern is the increasing number of cases being brought to my attention by parents. The number is greater than it has ever been in the time since I became a Deputy. I am dealing with five cases, two of which have progressed to appeal stage. The others will be a little more difficult to address. Often a child will have a SNA full time in primary school and progress well only for the goalposts to change when he or she moves on to secondary school. In one such case the child comes out of school crying, is unsettled and has difficulty in sleeping at night. Everybody does not fit into the same category. Circumstances can be different. In two of the cases with which I am dealing children received one-to-one attention in primary school, but they are not receiving it in secondary school and are as a result regressing. I hope that when this is pointed out in the appeals process, it can be rectified. As I said, parents of children with disabilities are struggling. As we all know, dealing with a child with autism is very trying. We need to provide every support we can. I acknowledge the role of school principals, teachers and SNAs.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I will convey the Deputy's concerns to the Minister. SNAs are provided to assist recognised schools in catering for pupils with disabilities who have educational and significant care needs in an educational context and where the nature of these care needs have been outlined in medical and professional reports as being so significant that a pupil will require additional assistance in order to be able to attend school and participate in education. In considering applications for SNA support for individual pupils the special educational needs organisers take account of the pupil's needs and consider the resources available to a school to identify whether there is a need for additionality or whether the school might reasonably be expected to meet the needs of the pupil from its current level of resources. The Minister wishes to emphasise that SNAs are allocated not to individual pupils but to schools as a school based resource. The Government is committed to ensuring children with special educational needs are supported and given every opportunity to fulfil their potential. The Department's policy is to ensure every child who is assessed as needing SNA support will have access to such support. Special needs assistants play a key role in supporting children who have additional care needs to attend school and participate in education. More children with special educational needs are participating and we are investing more than ever before to support them. As I said, the NCSE appeals process may be invoked by a parent or a school where it is considered that a child was not granted access to SNA support on the grounds that departmental policy had not been met in accordance with Circular 0030/2014. Schools can also appeal a decision where the school considers that the NCSE, in applying departmental policy, has not allocated the appropriate level of SNA support to the school to meet the special education or other care needs of the children concerned.