Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 559: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if a person (details supplied) in County Clare will be facilitated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27151/09]

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 additional resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to primary and post primary schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support.

SNAs are sanctioned by SENOs to schools specifically to assist in the care of pupils and students with disabilities in an educational context. Where a pupil in receipt of SNA support transfers from one school to another, the care needs of the pupil concerned will be examined in the context of the overall allocation already in the school. This may mean that the SNA support required can be met from within the school's existing allocation and no additional SNA support is necessary.

The recruitment of any additional SNA support and the deployment of SNAs within schools are matters for the individual Principal/Board of Management. The Board is the SNA's employer and the terms of employment are subject to the conditions of the contract of employment.