Written answers

Thursday, 24 May 2012

Department of Education and Skills

Special Educational Needs

5:00 pm

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Question 40: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to the Dáil discussion relating to special educational needs on 19 April 2012, if he will confirm whether the right of parents to appeal the decision of a special education needs organiser in relation to special needs assistants allocation for their child has been removed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25925/12]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for allocating resource teaching support 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 which now includes a requirement for them to have regard to an overall cap on the number of posts available.

The NCSE has advised my Department that it is in the process of reviewing and developing an appeals process for schools, which will be in place for the 2012/13 school year allocations process. In the interim, for the current school year, the NCSE has retained a number of SNA posts in order to allocate them over the remainder of the school year in respect of emergency cases or new diagnosis. Where schools seek to have their SNA provision reviewed or make a new application, they should contact the NCSE in this regard. It is expected that schools, before requesting any review of their SNA provision, will be in a position to demonstrate that they have made every effort to manage their allocation of SNA posts to best effect.

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