Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 460: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of schools which have been and are in the process of having their provision of special needs assistants reviewed; the purpose of this review of provision of special needs assistants; if this review is being conducted on the basis of the number of hours allocated to schools or on the basis of each child; if this review is being conducted by the same qualified personnel that originally allocated the special needs support; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30010/04]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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A review of special needs assistant, SNA, provision, which commenced recently, will apply to approximately 2,000 primary schools with existing SNA support. The review is concerned with the level and deployment of SNA posts in mainstream classes. The intention is to ensure that the level of approved SNA support in schools, and the manner in which that support is being allocated, are such as to ensure that the special care needs of pupils are being appropriately met. As part of the exercise, outstanding applications for SNA support for pupils who are attending mainstream classes will be processed. Decisions on the applications will be conveyed to the schools as soon as this process has been completed.

The team conducting the review is comprised of retired members of my Department's inspectorate. It was supplemented recently by a number of special education needs organisers, SENOs, who are employed by the National Council for Special Education. As the Deputy may be aware, the council has been established as an independent statutory body with responsibilities as set out in the National Council for Special Education (Establishment) Order 2003. The SENOs will be a focal point of contact for schools and parents and will process applications for resources for pupils with special educational needs, SEN.

In this context, the SENOs are undergoing extensive training to ensure they will also be qualified to review the levels of SNA supports in schools. It is anticipated the council and the SENOs will become operational shortly. In this regard, my Department is liaising with the council regarding future arrangements for the processing of applications for SEN supports.