Áine Collins (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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325. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if resource hours will be reduced in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Cork. [34367/13]

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 schools for special educational needs supports, including the allocation of resource teaching support 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. 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 and the NCSE has published details of Resource Teaching allocations for all schools on its website www.ncse.ie, based on the number of valid applications received. The NCSE has been authorised to restore the level of resource teaching allocations which can be provided for students with special educational needs to 2012/13 levels. It is a matter for schools to monitor and utilise their allocation of additional teaching support to best support the needs of identified pupils, in accordance with my Departments guidance. All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.