Written answers

Tuesday, 28 June 2005

Department of Education and Science

Special Educational Needs

10:00 pm

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 716: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the procedures and supports for a person with special needs when a school refuses them entry; and if a school can ban a child with a disability, following recent legislation. [22431/05]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Enrolment decisions are the responsibility of the board of management of each individual school. My Department has no role in respect of processing applications for enrolment by schools. Section 29 of the Education Act 1998 provides parents with an appeal process where a board of management of a school or a person acting on behalf of the board refuses enrolment to a student. Where a school refuses to enrol a pupil, the school is obliged to inform parents of their right under section 29 of the Education Act 1998 to appeal that decision to the Secretary General of my Department. Where an appeal under section 29 is upheld, the Secretary General of my Department may direct a school to enrol a pupil.

As the Deputy is aware, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, which became operational on 1 January 2005, now processes applications for special educational needs supports and decides on the level of support appropriate to the school. A total of 71 special educational needs organisers, SENOs, have been recruited throughout the country and are a focal point of contact for schools and parents. The SENOs are responsible for co-ordinating and facilitating delivery of educational services to children with disabilities at local level. Any parent who is experiencing difficulty in securing an appropriate placement for his or her child should make contact with their local SENO in the first instance. Contact details of the relevant SENO are available on my Department's website.

The National Educational Welfare Board, NEWB, is a further statutory agency which can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The NEWB can be contacted at National Educational Welfare Board, National Headquarters, 16-22 Green Street, Dublin 7 or by telephone at 01 8738700.

Photo of Enda KennyEnda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 717: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the criteria and procedures for the appointments of special needs assistants in primary schools; the position in so far as special needs assistants are concerned; when a person under their guidance for whatever reason leaves the primary school system and the arrangements then put in place for replacement or continuation of service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22450/05]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Special needs assistants, SNAs, are assigned to schools to meet the care needs of individual children who have been assessed by a psychologist as needing this type of support. I can confirm that there has been no change to the criteria or guidelines for allocating SNA support to schools and I can further confirm that there are no plans to review the criteria or guidelines under which SNA support is allocated.

Applications for SNA support are now dealt with by the National Council for Special Education who process all applications for support from schools and communicate the decisions directly to the schools. At this stage, the council has dealt with all new applications from schools for SNAs that will be required from the beginning of September 2005. However, in order to ensure that resources are used in the most effective manner, a review has been conducted in recent months to establish whether primary schools have the level of SNA support that they need for children in their care, whether they have resources which they no longer need or whether they need extra resources.

The review has found that some schools no longer have the care needs for which the SNA was originally sanctioned that is, in some cases the child may have left the school while in other cases the care needs of the child have diminished as the child has progressed through the school. In this regard, the schools where surplus SNA support was identified have been advised that they may retain this surplus until the end of the current school year.

My Department had been engaged in discussions with the trade union representing special needs assistants, SNAs, under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission, on a number of issues relating to the employment of SNAs. These discussions have now concluded. One of the proposals that has been accepted by both parties is to agree to enter into negotiations at an early date with a view to devising a suitable system for redeployment having regard to the complexities involved. It is the objective that this process be finalised for the end of the next school year.

The Deputy will be aware that this Government has put in place an unprecedented level of support for children with special needs. Indeed, since 1998, the number of SNAs has increased from under 300 to over 6,000 nationally. In addition, more effective systems, such as the establishment of the National Council for Special Education, have been put in place to ensure that children get support as early as possible.

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