Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 199: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the numbers of special needs assistant whole-time equivalents employed at each primary and post-primary school in tabular form and broken down on a county basis as of December 2011 and the corresponding figures for December 2007, December 2009, December 2009 and December 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12785/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The number of Special Needs Assistants (whole time equivalent) employed nationally from 2007 to 2011 is available in the following document. The details for each year are the December figures for the year in question. The primary schools information is inclusive of the special schools details. The information in the detailed format requested by the Deputy is not readily available. However, the website of the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) does provide a specific breakdown of SNA allocations for the current school year which began last September. This can be accessed at www.ncse.ie.

SNAs are recruited specifically to assist in the care of pupils with disabilities in an educational context. The class teacher is responsible for educating all pupils in their class, including any pupil with a special educational need. In this task, the teacher may be supported by a learning support teacher and/or resource teacher. As a result, the allocation of SNAs in each school can alter from year to year. Some schools may receive an increased allocation, while others may experience a reduction because the allocation of supports are provided in line with the needs of individual schools.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for allocating special needs resources to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within the Department's criteria in allocating such support. The NCSE will continue to support schools, parents, children and teachers and special needs assistants will continue to be deployed to schools to meet children's needs in line with the Department's policy.