Written answers

Tuesday, 21 March 2017

Department of Education and Skills

Special Educational Needs

Photo of James LawlessJames Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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252. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will examine the current position of the special needs allocation in a school (details supplied) in order to ascertain the need for additional SNA's for this school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12893/17]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is an independent statutory agency, is responsible, through its network of Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating special educational needs supports to schools, including S support.

The NCSE allocates S support in accordance with the criteria set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014, which is available on my Department's website at www.education.ie,in order that students who have care needs can access S support as and when it is needed.

Responsibility for deciding on the quantum of educational supports and resources to be allocated to schools to support individual pupils rests with the NCSE. In making allocations to schools, the NCSE takes into account the assessed individual needs of all children with identified needs in the school.

The NCSE has informed my Department that a full care needs review was carried out by the SENO in the school referred to by the Deputy on the 2ndMarch. The outcome of the review is that the school’s allocation of S support has been increased by 0.5 post to provide for the care needs of the qualifying children in the school.

Where a school wishes to appeal the S 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.

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.

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