Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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274. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of whole-time equivalent special needs assistants and resource teachers employed in schools in the years 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35160/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The provision for children with Special Educational Needs has been prioritised in recent years, despite the enormous pressures on all public spending. 

Funding for special education provision in 2016 will amount to some €1.5 billion, which is equivalent to approximately 17% of the gross overall current allocation for education and training; an increase of 10% in the past two years. 

This funding provides for a range of supports and services to ensure that wherever a child is enrolled, s/he will have access to an appropriate education and has ensured that the number of resource teachers and SNAs being allocated to schools has risen very significantly in recent years.

In 2004 there were 5,869 SNA posts allocated to schools, 10,442 posts at the end of 2008, and 10,487 posts in 2012. 12,900 SNA posts are currently available to the NCSE to allocate to schools to the end of 2016, of which 12,838 SNA posts are currently allocated to schools.

The number of resource teaching posts allocated to schools annually by the NCSE has also increased significantly in recent years. In 2004, surplus allocations in schools were used to provide for resource teaching allocations. Only where no surplus existed in schools was additional provision made. A figure for the number of resource teacher posts allocated to schools in 2004 is therefore not available. In 2008, approximately 4800 resource teacher posts were allocated to schools by the NCSE, while in 2012, 5265 posts were allocated. For the 2016/17 school year, 7452 resource teacher posts are available to the NCSE to allocate to schools, of which 7430 posts are currently allocated.

We now have the highest level of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support and Resource Teaching allocations which we have ever has and which will ensure that children with special educational needs can continue to participate in education and be supported in a manner appropriate to their needs.