Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Deputy will be aware that 11,330 whole time equivalent Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts have been made available to the NCSE to allocate to schools to end of the current school year. This is the highest number of SNAs that we have ever had and it has ensured that children with special educational needs can continue to participate in education and be supported in a manner appropriate to their needs. This year, the NCSE requested all schools to submit applications for SNA support by mid March 2015. Following this deadline each application had to be assessed by the NCSE before they were in a position to advise the Minister on the quantum of SNAs that would need to be allocated to schools for the coming school year. The final advice on this was received last week, and the Minister will be seeking to confirm allocations to schools over the next ten days.

The criteria whereby SNA allocations are made to schools by the NCSE is set out in my Departments Circular 30/2014. This Circular makes clear that it is important that children with special educational needs are given an opportunity to develop independent living skills, and accordingly, as the care needs that children may have decline as they mature, SNA allocations may also reduce. It should also be noted that SNA allocations are not made to individual children, but are made to schools to support the care needs of children with assessed special educational needs.

The deployment of SNAs within schools is then a matter for the individual Principal/Board of Management. SNAs should be deployed by the school in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated. It is a matter for schools to allocate support as required, and on the basis of individual need, which allows schools flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised. As this question relates to an allocation for an individual child, I will arrange to have the matter referred to the NCSE for their attention and direct reply to the Deputy.