Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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202. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to cut special needs assistants in schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7354/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Budget 2015 included an increase in spending on education for the first time in recent years, amounting to additional funding of €60m during 2015.

This funding will be used to provide 1,700 additional teachers and SNAs for our schools, as well as to fund prioritised reforms, such as implementation of the literacy and numeracy strategy, reform of junior cycle, and the introduction of education focussed pre-school inspections.

This Government has been resolutely committed to protecting, and where possible, increasing, the level of investment being made to support children with special educational needs at a time when there has been a requirement to make expenditure reductions across a range of areas. It is an area of spending which has been prioritised above most other areas by this Government, despite the enormous pressures on all areas of public spending.

Some €1.37 billion will be spent in support of children with Special Educational Needs this year, which represents approximately 15% of my Department's budget.

There has been no reduction in the overall number of Special Needs Assistant or resource teaching/learning support posts being provided for schools.

On the contrary, 365 new Special Needs Assistant posts and 480 new resource teaching posts have been provided to support children with special educational needs in schools in 2015, bringing the total number of SNAs available for allocation in 2015 to 11,330 posts and the total number of resource teaching posts to 6,705.

Over 11,000 resource and learning support teaching posts are now available. This is the highest level of SNA and resource teaching allocations that we have ever had, and will ensure that children with special educational needs can continue to participate in education and be supported in a manner appropriate to their needs.

Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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203. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide a breakdown of the number of special needs assistants employed from 2011 to 2014, on a county basis. [7355/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The information requested by the Deputy on the number of special needs assistants employed in schools on a county basis is not readily available.

The number of Special Needs Assistants employed nationally from 2011 to 2014 is available in the attached document. The details for each year are the December figures for the year in question. The primary schools information is inclusive of the special schools details.

SNAs are recruited specifically to assist in the care of pupils with disabilities in an educational context. The class teacher is responsible for educating all pupils in their class, including any pupil with a special educational need. In this task, the teacher may be supported by a learning support teacher and/or resource teacher. As a result, the allocation of SNAs in each school can alter from year to year. Some schools may receive an increased allocation, while others may experience a reduction because the allocation of supports are provided in line with the needs of individual schools.

The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for allocating special needs resources to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. The NCSE will continue to support schools, parents, children and teachers and special needs assistants will continue to be deployed to schools to meet children's needs in line with my Department's policy. Number of Special Needs Assistants