Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 1752: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if he will address the cutbacks in special needs assistants for special needs children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30707/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that there have been no cutbacks in the provision of special needs assistants to support children with special needs. In fact, there are now 19,000 staff in our schools working solely with children with special needs. This includes over 10,000 SNAs — compared with just 300 in 1997.

The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) 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. Applications for SNAs may be considered by the NCSE where a pupil has a significant medical need for such assistance, a significant impairment of physical or sensory function or where their behaviour is such that they are a danger to themselves or to other pupils.

For some pupils, as they mature, their care needs may diminish over time. In such circumstances, the NCSE will review and adjust the overall level of SNA support in the school concerned. This may mean that some pupils who had previously been supported by a full time SNA may have their needs met through the shared support of an SNA or perhaps they may have no need for SNA support. 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.