Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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200. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will reinstate the third teacher and restore resource teaching hours to a school (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53901/13]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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223. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on correspondence regarding a school (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54055/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 223 together.

As part of the Budget 2012 decisions, the number of pupils required to gain and retain a classroom teaching post in small primary schools is being gradually increased between September 2012 and September 2014.

An appeals process is available to small schools which have had their staff number reduced as a result of the budget measure. The school referred to by the Deputy submitted an appeal to the Primary Staffing Appeals Board. The appeal

was refused as it did not meet the appeal criteria. The Primary Staffing Appeals Board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final.

The single allocation process for learning support (General Allocation Model) and language support, introduced in September 2012, provides an allocation based on the number of mainstream teachers in the school. The allocation is

based on the number of mainstream classroom posts in schools in the previous school year.

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.

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.