Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 231: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the steps he will take to restore a special needs assistant that has been taken away from a school (details supplied) in County Meath; if he will confirm that he has received correspondence in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7330/10]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 247: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if he will reply to correspondence from a person (details supplied) in County Meath; if he will reinstate the two special needs assistants to the school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7433/10]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 294: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if a child (details supplied) in County Meath is entitled to the allocation of a special needs assistant from the National Council for Special Education; and if so, the hours they are entitled to receive. [7561/10]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 231, 247 and 294 together.

The Deputies 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 educational 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 can confirm that I responded to correspondence from a Deputy in relation to the pupil in question on 8th February. I also arranged for a copy of the correspondence to be sent to the NCSE. In addition, I have arranged for the details now supplied by the Deputies to be forwarded to the NCSE for their attention and direct reply.