Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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111. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the new resource allocation model will include an appeals mechanism; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12465/17]

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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121. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the circular for the new resource allocation model will be sent to schools and published on his Department's website; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12475/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that new Circulars which provide details of the scheme for the new model for allocating special education teachers to mainstream schools have now been published on my Departments website. DES Circular 0013/2017 provides details for primary schools while DES Circular 0014/2017 sets out the position for post primary schools.

Schools will also receive details of their allocations under the new model this week.

The aim of this new model is to deliver better outcomes for children with special educational needs. Substantial research, analysis, consultation with service users and stakeholders, and piloting have gone in to the development of this model and all the evidence points to the fact that this new system will deliver better outcomes for children.

No school will lose supports as a result of the implementation of the new model. In addition, no school will receive an allocation, for the support of pupils with complex needs, less than the allocation they received to support such pupils during the 2016/17 school year. No allocation made for such pupils by the NCSE will be removed from schools as long as that pupil remains in the school.

An additional 900 teaching posts will be provided to support the introduction of this new allocation model. The provision of an additional 900 teaching posts is a very significant investment in the provision of additional teaching support for pupils with special educational needs in our schools. This is additional to an increase of 41% in the number of resource teachers allocated to schools annually by the NCSE since 2011, when 5265 teachers were allocated, as opposed to provision for 7542 posts in the current school year.

The additional funding will provide extra supports to over 1000 schools who are identified as needing additional supports as a result of the new model. Supports for children with special educational needs is a huge priority for this Government. We currently spend over €1.6 billion, or one fifth of the total education budget, on supports for children with special educational needs.

This investment will ensure that all schools receive a sufficient allocation of special education needs resources to provide additional teaching support to all pupils who require such support. 

Under the new allocation model, schools will be provided with a total allocation which includes a baseline allocation for the school and an allocation based on the school profile.

The provision of a profiled allocation will give a fairer allocation for each school which recognises that all schools need an allocation for special needs support, but which provides a graduated allocation which takes into account the actual level of need and pupils in each school.

Schools will be frontloaded with resources, based on each school's profile, to provide supports immediately to those pupils who need it without delay. This will reduce the administrative burden on schools as they will no longer have to complete an application process annually and apply for newly enrolled pupils, or pupils transferring in to the school, who require resource hours. Children who need support can have that support provided immediately rather than having to wait for a diagnosis.

DES Circulars 0013/2017 and 0014/2017 outline the basis on which the Education Research Centre determined the allocations for all schools.

Schools will be able to appeal whether the data used to calculate their school profile was correct and complete and whether it was correctly applied in the calculation of their 2017/18 allocation.

In advance of the submission of an appeal, schools should read carefully the DES circulars and in particular the relevant section, which relates to the breakdown of the allocation, which may be under consideration for appeal.

Taking this into account, the NCSE will publish details of the appeals process on the NCSE website: on 20th March 2017. Should a school wish to appeal they should do so by March 31st 2017.

The appeal will consist of a review of whether the correct data was correctly applied to one, or all, of the components of the schools profile and a correct allocation made. It is envisaged that decisions on the appeals will issue to the relevant schools by 31st May 2017.