Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 34: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the date by which he intends to provide an updated circular in the way special needs assistants posts are to be allocated to schools. [30976/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that it is not my Department's intention to provide a new Circular regarding the arrangements for the provision of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for the coming school year as neither the policy nor the arrangements for the provision of SNA support have been revised or amended.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports including Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support, to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of such supports and the staffing resources available to my Department.

There are 10,575 SNA posts available for allocation in the 2012/13 school year which is the same number of posts which were available for allocation for the current school year. SENOs are currently notifying schools of their SNA allocation for 2012/13, based on the number of valid applications received and the extent of the care needs of qualifying children.

It is my intention that resources available to my Department are utilised to optimum benefit to ensure the best possible outcomes for students with special educational needs. In this regard my Department is seeking advice from the NCSE on policy options for the allocation of these resources in future, with a view to ensuring that the most appropriate and efficient model is in place in the coming years.

Finally, I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department published a Value for Money (VFM) and Policy Analysis review of the SNA scheme last year. This review is available on my Departments website: www.education.ie. The review makes a number of recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the SNA scheme and with regards to the future basis for the scheme. My Department has established a working group which will consider and implement the recommendations of the SNA Value for Money and Policy Analysis review.