John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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411. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 255 of 17 May 2016, if he will approve a special needs assistant for a person (details supplied). [24952/16]

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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418. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason the maximum number of resource hours have not been allocated to a person (details supplied); the reason a special needs assistant was not approved; and if this will be reviewed based on the evidence provided. [25221/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 411 and 418 together.

The National Council for Special Education, which is an independent statutory agency, is responsible, through its network of locally based Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for the allocation of Special Educational needs supports, including Special Needs Astsistant (SNA) and Low Incidence Teaching Hours (LITH) support to schools for students with special educational needs (SEN) arising from a disability.

Responsibility for deciding on the quantum of special educational needs supports and resources to be allocated to schools to support individual pupils with special educational needs, rests with the NCSE.

The NCSE allocates SNA support to schools in accordance with the criteria set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014, in order that students who have care needs can access SNA support as and when it is needed.

Additional teaching resources are allocated to primary and post-primary schools for the support of individual students with complex and enduring special educational needs and who have been assessed as having a low incidence disability.

Each year the NCSE allocates Low Incidence Resource Teacher posts to schools to support children with a diagnosis of a disability and an assessed level of need, as set out in Circular Sp Ed 02/05.

Where a school wishes to appeal the SNA or resource teaching support allocation which has been made to them, they may do so through the NCSE appeal process, details of which are set out at www.ncse.ie. The option to invoke the NCSE appeals process is open to the school in question.

All schools have the contact details of their local SENO, while Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on the NCSE website.

The NCSE issued a direct response to the Deputy in relation to special educational needs supports for the student concerned on 31st August 2016.