Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 743: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the conclusions drawn by his pilot programme regarding disability funding for Youthreach; his plans to extend the availability of these funds to all Youthreach centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23493/08]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 764: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the plans he has for the roll out of the pilot special education needs initiative to all Youthreach centres; the timescale for same; if the evaluation of the initial SEN pilot has been completed; the findings of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23699/08]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 765: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the plans he has to allow students under 18 years who are in receipt of special education supports in post-primary schools to transfer these supports with them to Youthreach if they leave mainstream schooling; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23700/08]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 743, 764 and 765 together.

Youthreach is designed to offer two years integrated education, training and work experience for young people aged 15 — 20 who have left school early without achieving qualifications. The programme, which is managed by VECs at local level, is available in 100 centres nationally and caters for almost 3,700 learners.

Supports available to students in Post Primary Schools do not transfer with the student to Youthreach centres. To address special educational needs and provide the necessary supports for learners in Youthreach centres, my Department introduced the Special Education Needs Initiative (SENI) in 2007. The SENI was introduced to 25 groups of 25 learners across 20 Youthreach centres.

The SENI involves a general allocation model similar to that introduced in the primary sector in September 2005. It is team based and caters mainly for students with high incidence needs. The SENI provides for the allocation of increased staffing hours (from 4,200 to 5,700 hours per group per year) to deal with the special needs and disabilities of all the students.

Additional training was provided to staff in the centres to enable the introduction, on a centre team basis, of a range of professional practices to support students with special educational needs/disabilities. This training followed on from the national introductory training programme introduced into all centres in 2006. In addition, the 20 centres have access to a password protected internet site containing guidelines, tailored training programmes and other materials.

During 2007, an evaluation was carried out on the SENI to determine its suitability and effectiveness for the learners. The findings of this evaluation were generally positive and found the new initiative to be meeting the needs of learners. The evaluation recommended full integration of the SENI into each centre. My Department is currently examining the possibility of rolling out the SENI to other Youthreach centres, subject to the availability of funding.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 744: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the facilities and assistance available to students progressing from primary to secondary schools (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23534/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, 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. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. 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.

There is no automatic system of transfer of resources from one school to another. Where a child with special educational needs (SEN) is in receipt of additional supports in a school and moves school or moves on to post-primary, and no other child with special needs enrols in the school, then the resource — resource teaching hours and/or special needs assistant support — is withdrawn from the first school and, if still warranted by the child's needs, is sanctioned for the new school. In considering applications for teaching and SNA supports for individual pupils, the SENOs take account of the needs identified in the professional report and decide whether the circumstances come within the Department's criteria. They then consider the resources available to the school to identify whether additionality is needed or whether the school might reasonably be expected to meet the needs of the pupil from its current level of resources. A child needing occasional assistance with toileting may, for example, only require a limited amount of an SNA's time which may be available within the school.

As the Deputy may be aware, SNA support in schools is intended to address the care needs of pupils with special educational needs. The criteria for the provision of SNA support envisages that such support is sanctioned where a child has a significant medical need, a significant impairment of physical or sensory function or where the child is a danger to themselves or other pupils. 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.