Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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70. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the total number of pupils currently within Gaelscoileanna; the total number of special needs assistants working in Gaelscoileanna; the total number of pupils and SNAs currently within the primary sector as a whole; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12534/14]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the number of pupils enrolled in Primary schools (including Special Schools) for the 2013/14 school year is 536,319 and the number of pupils enrolled in all-Irish primary schools in the current school year is 41,659 pupils. I wish to advise the Deputy also 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 Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) 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.

In December 2013, this Government agreed to increase the cap on SNAs by 390, increasing by 170 posts to 10,745 at the end of 2013, and by a further 220 posts to 10,965 at the end of 2014. These additional posts provided will enable the National Council for Special Education to continue to allocate support to children who need it in order that they may fully participate in and benefit from their education. The NCSE allocates a quantum of SNA support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support. The NCSE has published details of all of their allocations for resource teaching and SNA support for the 2013/2014 school year on their website www.ncse.ie, which detail the allocations made for each school on a per county basis. The total number of posts allocated by the NCSE in the current school year is approximately 10,590 posts.

The NCSE has invited schools to make applications for SNA support for the coming 2014/15 school year by 26th March, 2014. All schools who wish to make applications to the NCSE for SNA support for children who have assessed care needs, should now submit such applications to the NCSE for their consideration. Details of the NCSE application criteria are available at www.ncse.ie.

All schools also 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. My Department does not retain information on the numbers of SNAS in Gaelscoileanna. I am advised by the NCSE that they also do not breakdown the numbers of SNAs allocated to different school sectors. They have advised me however that they will endeavour to ascertain this number on the basis of this request. Accordingly I have requested the NCSE to respond to you directly when the requested information is available.