Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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149. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of special needs assistants, SNAs, that are required over each of the next five years to maintain existing SNA to student ratios taking into account projected student enrolment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34234/16]

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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150. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current ratio of special needs assistants to students with special educational needs; if this ratio is in line with international norms; if any study has been completed on international norms in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34235/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 149 and 150 together.

Special Needs Assistants (Ss) are allocated to mainstream Primary, Post Primary schools and to Special Schools to assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs.  Such support is provided in order to facilitate the attendance of those pupils at school and also to minimise disruption to class or teaching time for the pupils concerned, or for their peers, and with a view to developing their independent living skills. 

In June 2016, I announced that 860 additional Special Needs Assistants would be available for allocation to schools over the period September to December 2016 in order to meet the level of identified demand, bringing the total number of Special Needs Assistants to 12,900, at a total gross annual cost of €425m.  

Budget 2017 has provided for the recruitment of an additional 115 Ss from January to June 2017 and to provide for the full year costs of the 860 Ss recruited from September 2016.  This additional allocation will bring the total number of Ss which may be allocated to schools in the 2016/2017 school year, to 13,015 posts.  In total, this represents an increase of 23% over the numbers allocated in 2011, which was 10,575 posts.  This increase reflects the growing participation of children with Special Needs and will support their full participation and progression within the educational system. 

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for processing applications from schools for Special Educational Needs supports, including S support.  The NCSE allocates S support to schools in accordance with the criteria set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014.  The demand for the 2017/18 school year will not be known until the NCSE application process for 2017/18 has been completed next year. 

The Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service recently published a Focused Policy Assessment (FPA) of Data on Special Needs Assistants which is available at: http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Value-For-Money-Reviews/.  This FPA forms part of the Department of Education and Skills (DES) commitment to the Public Spending Code (PSC) and evidence informed policy making.  

Through analysing growth in metrics, such as the age profile of students accessing S supports, the growth in students accessing Ss as a proportion of the primary and post-primary education, and levels of enrolment in special classes, the FPA estimated that future demand of the number of additional Ss likely to be required to 2019 will be in the order of between 1,300 and 5,400 posts, which is estimated to cost between €47m and €183m. The report noted, however, that this is an indicative estimate, which is subject to certain growth conditions to be met, and that it is unrealistic to assume that the report can predict exactly the quantum of future student demand of Ss.  

The extent of funding required to provide for S support in future years will, therefore, take into account the actual demand which transpires annually, while also taking into account the significant increases in S numbers recently provided in 2016. 

Data underpinning the S Scheme, as set out in the FPA, shows that overall the student to S ratio has increased from 2.2 in 2011/2012 to 2.5 in 2015/2016 due to changes in student numbers, the profile of disability of students and the S allocation. 

It should be noted that the S to Pupil ratio varies across the school sector from mainstream class to special class to special school. In 2015 there was 1 S for 2.2 eligible children in Mainstream classes, 3.2 children in special classes and 3.31 children in special schools. As more Ss are introduced to schools it would be expected that the ratio of Ss to eligible pupils would move closer to that in special classes and schools.

I recently requested the NCSE to lead a comprehensive review of the S scheme, in consultation with other relevant Departments and State Agencies, including the National Disability Authority (NDA) and in that context to:

- Identify and recommend how, in the future, the additional care needs of students, over and above those needs that could be reasonably expected to be managed by teaching staff, should be met and

- recommend the most appropriate form of support options to provide better outcomes for students with Special Educational Needs who have additional care needs, having regard to the significant amount of State investment in this area.

This comprehensive review will include a literature review of international and country studies to compare international norms.

The NCSE will report to me on the progress of this review in May 2017.