Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 518: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if a special needs teacher will be assigned to a person (details supplied) in County Limerick whose special needs assistant has been discontinued since they transferred to a new primary school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32708/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through the local special educational needs organisers (SENOs), is responsible for processing applications for special educational needs (SEN) supports from primary and post primary schools. The teaching and special needs assistant (SNA) support allocated are intended to enable schools to meet the needs of pupils as outlined in psychological and other professional reports. In allocating SEN supports for individual pupils, the SENOs examine the teaching and other resources available within the individual schools. It is not a case of individual SEN supports automatically transferring when a pupil transfers from one school to another. The SENO also operates within the parameters of my Department's criteria for the allocation of such resources.

In the case referred to by the Deputy, the school in question made an application for additional resource teaching support in respect of the pupil. However, the application did not meet my Department's criteria for individual resource teaching support. The school authorities were notified of this decision on 20th September 2006 by the SENO. A request for special needs assistant support has not been made to the SENO.

The NCSE will review decisions previously taken in relation to such cases on foot of a request from the school or parents/guardians, when accompanied by relevant additional information that may not have been available at the time of the decision. The NCSE has outlined this process in its Circular 01/05, which has issued to all primary schools.