Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 200: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will appoint more teachers to a school (details supplied) in County Donegal as they have requested, in view of the support that they provide to families of disabled children in Donegal. [22224/11]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 201: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will take time to visit a school (details supplied) in County Donegal and witness at first hand the work they do in order to fully understand their real additional needs. [22225/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 201 together. I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for determining the appropriate staffing levels in relation to the support of pupils with special educational needs in mainstream and special schools. The NCSE operates within my Department's policy in allocating this support.

My Department's Circular 0042/2011 provides details of the staffing arrangements which will apply for special schools for the coming school year. This Circular outlines that current teaching staff levels will be retained in Special Schools for the 2011/12 school year at existing levels, except in the case of schools with excess teaching posts who are losing such posts through retirement. The Circular also sets out that Special Schools, going forward, will be staffed based on their actual current pupil profiles and the disability category of each pupil, as opposed to primarily by school designation. It is intended that school staffing schedules will be reviewed and updated each year by the NCSE.

It is open to the school concerned to contact their local Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO) regarding their staffing allocation, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie. I regret I am not in a position to visit the school in the near future due to diary constraints. However, I wish to acknowledge the valuable contribution made by Special Schools to the continuum of provision being made for children with special educational needs.