Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Question 208: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his policy on the cap on special needs assistants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11013/12]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Question 225: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his policy on the provision of special needs education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11030/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 208 and 225 together.

I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department's policy is to promote the principle of inclusive education as envisaged in Section 2 of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN), Act 2004.

My Department, either directly or through the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), provides for a range of supports in schools to enable them to cater for students with special educational needs which includes additional resource teachers, Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) and specialist equipment. The precise model of provision made will depend on the pupil's assessed disability.

I wish to reiterate for the Deputy this Government's commitment to the provision of resources for children with special educational needs.

There has been no reduction in the number of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) which will be available for the next school year, with 10,575 posts remaining available for allocation. It is considered that with equitable management and distribution of these resources that there will be sufficient posts to provide access to SNA support for all children who require such care support to attend school, in accordance with my Departments criteria.

Neither has there been any reduction in the overall number of resource teaching posts which will be available for allocation to mainstream schools for the next year, either through the General Allocation Model or which are available for individual allocation by the National Council for Special Education.

The fact that the number of special needs assistant and resource teaching posts are being maintained at current levels is a reflection of this Governments commitment to prioritising supports for children with special educational needs, at a time when there is a requirement to make expenditure savings across a range of areas. This commitment to protecting frontline services for children with special educational needs will ensure that the requirements of special needs pupils can continue to be provided for on an ongoing basis, despite overall budgetary pressures.