Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 269: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the number of special needs assistants that will be employed by her Department for the 2010-2011 academic year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28684/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South 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 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. SENOs then carry out assessments of a child's special educational needs, on request by parent or schools subsequent to which they recommend appropriate resources, including special needs assistant provision.

While mainstream teaching posts are allocated at the start of a school year and remain for the full school year, the allocation of SNA posts has never been tied to the start of the school year. This flexibility is designed to assist schools who may not have been able to access relevant professional reports in advance of the start of the school year, or who may have new pupils with special educational needs enrolled during the year. Similarly, while new SNA posts may be allocated throughout the school year, some SNA's may also leave during the school year where a child may leave or move school, or may achieve a greater level of independence. As this process is continuous throughout the life of a school year, it is therefore not possible to say how many special needs assistants will be employed by my Department for the 2010/2011 academic year. There are currently over 10,000 SNA's employed throughout the school system.

I wish to confirm for the Deputy that my Department is very supportive of the SNA scheme. It has been a key factor in both ensuring the successful integration of children with special educational needs into mainstream education and providing support to pupils enrolled in special schools and special classes. The SNA scheme will continue to be supported and the NCSE will continue to support schools, parents, children and teachers and resources will continue to be allocated to schools to meet children's needs in line with my Department's policy.