Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 181: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will assist in a case (details supplied). [15507/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The National Council for Special Education is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for allocating resource teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) to schools to support children with special needs. All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.

SNA support in schools is intended to address the care needs of pupils with special educational needs. In many cases, the SNA will be providing care to help with toileting and feeding. It would be expected that very often this level of care should diminish as the child matures and consequently the level of SNA support required in the school will diminish also. Where a pupil in receipt of SNA support transfers from one school to another, this may mean that the SNA support in the child's former school is no longer required. I have arranged for the details supplied by the Deputy to be forwarded to the NCSE for their attention and direct reply.