Gerard Murphy (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 535: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the terms under which special needs assistants with her Department may take a year's leave of absence. [20795/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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While a number of full-time special needs assistants, SNAs, have availed of unpaid leave of absence, there is no formal career break scheme in place at present. SNAs are employed directly by the managerial authority of each school and currently, any decision to grant leave of absence without pay for a period of at least one year is a matter for the relevant school authority.

My Department requires the managerial authority to have due regard for the exigencies of the school and possible negative effects in permitting such an absence. The welfare and educational needs of the pupil(s) must take precedence over all other considerations. Applications are currently sanctioned on the basis that the absence is of a minimum duration of one year commencing on the first day of the school year. Any application for an extension of the period of unpaid leave beyond one school year, is reviewed by the managerial authority on an annual basis. The combined periods of unpaid leave of absence granted to an SNA shall not exceed five years.

Gerard Murphy (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 536: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if it is possible for a special needs assistant to apply for transfer within different schools that employ her Department special needs assistants. [20796/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Applications for special needs assistant support are now dealt with by the National Council for Special Education which processes applications for support from schools and communicates the decisions directly to the schools.

The responsibility for the recruitment and employment of individual special needs assistants is a matter for each school authority.