Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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247. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has done a study that tracks a student who needs the assistance of a SENO or resource teaching hours from primary school through to the completion of the leaving certificate and the number of those that go on to third level education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20315/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for processing applications from primary and post primary schools for special educational needs supports including resource teaching and Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. Another function of the Council is to carry out research and provide expert advice to me, as Minister for Education and Skills, on the educational needs of children with disabilities and the provision of related services.

The NCSE has developed a comprehensive programme of research and to date has published 14 completed reports from commissioned studies. The published reports are all available to download from the NCSE website (www.ncse.ie). In 2009 the NCSE commissioned a three year longitudinal research study specifically to track the experiences and educational outcomes of a cohort of primary, post primary and special school students in a number of case study schools around the country. In total the study followed 140 students in 24 schools. The researchers gathered evidence from multiple perspectives, including those of students, parents, school-based staff, allied professionals and disability groups in order to fully understand the impact of current provision to support children and young people with special educational needs in both mainstream and special schools. The report from this study is currently being finalised. It is expected that it will be completed late in 2013 for publication in 2014. The study has been carried out by researchers at the University of Northampton, UK; Trinity College, Dublin; and the Irish based, Institute of Child Education and Psychology Europe.

I also wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has requested the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to provide policy advice to my Department, in accordance with its role under the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act, on the appropriate nature and configuration of educational supports which should be provided to schools to support children with special educational needs. It is intended that the significant resources to support children with Special Educational Needs are deployed to ensure the best possible outcomes for students. The advice will be a key input into achieving this goal. The advice from the National Council for Special Education is expected in the coming months.