Written answers

Tuesday, 11 June 2013

Department of Education and Skills

Special Educational Needs Staffing

Photo of Arthur SpringArthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour)
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265. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the special needs assistant/pupil ratio in the special schools in counties Limerick, Kerry and Cork. [26988/13]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the NCSE, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports, including the allocation of Special Needs Assistants to schools. The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of Special Education supports and the staffing resources available to my Department.

The NCSE allocates a quantum of SNA support for each school annually taking into account the care needs of all of the qualifying children enrolled in the school, and on the basis of the assessed care needs of the children, rather than solely by reference to the type of school, or the pupil's disability categorisation.

Information regarding the number of SNAs approved in special schools for the current school year in each county, including counties Limerick, Kerry and Cork, is available on the NCSE website www.ncse.ie

All schools were advised to apply to the NCSE for resource teaching and SNA support for the 2013/14 school year by 15th March 2013. The NCSE are currently processing these applications and schools will be notified by SENOs of their resource teaching and SNA allocation for 2013/14 in advance of the coming school year, based on the number of valid applications received.

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