Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 402: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason special needs assistance was withdrawn from a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19600/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations including organising the holding of examinations and determining procedures in places where examinations are conducted including the supervision of examinations.

I can inform the Deputy that the Commission operates a scheme of Reasonable Accommodations in the certificate Examinations. Applications for such accommodations are submitted by schools on behalf of their students.

In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to the Deputy.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 403: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if the special needs assistant posts will be retained at a school (details supplied) in County Tipperary. [19616/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, 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. 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. I have arranged for the information provided by the Deputy to be forwarded to the NCSE for their direct reply.