Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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199. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of requests her Department has received for more special needs assistant posts for the upcoming school year and the number of schools that have been given a commitment by her Department that they will receive more special needs assistants in September 2015. [27865/15]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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200. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department has received recommendations from the National Council for Special Education to increase special needs assistant numbers in September 2015; and the recommendations received. [27866/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 199 and 200 together.

I wish to advise the Deputy that I announced yesterday that I had secured Government approval for an additional 610 Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts which may be made available for allocation to schools to support children with special educational needs with assessed care needs.

From September, there will be 11,820 whole time equivalent SNA posts available in schools to support children with special educational needs with assessed care needs. This is the highest level of SNA allocation that we have ever had and builds on the increases of 365 additional SNA posts provided for in last year's budget announcement and the 390 additional SNA posts announced in December 2013. In total there has been an increase of 11.7% in SNA posts available for allocation to schools since this Government came to office.

These extra posts will ensure that the Government's policy of ensuring that every child who is assessed as needing SNA support will receive access to such support.

Finally, I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education(NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating SNA support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school.

The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support which are set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014.

All schools were asked to apply for SNA support for the 2015/16 school year by 18th March 2015. The NCSE also continued to accept applications after this date in recognition that enrolments may not have been completed or where assessments were not completed.

The NCSE has now published details of SNA allocations for schools for September 2015 on its website.