Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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154. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the budgetary allocation for special educational equipment such as assistive technology over each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18529/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides funding to schools towards the cost of assistive technology, for educational purposes, to assist children with special educational needs in Primary, Post Primary and Special schools, in accordance with the criteria set out in my Department's Circular 0010/2013.

In order to qualify for equipment under the scheme, a child must have been diagnosed with a physical or communicative disability and must also have a recommendation in a professional assessment that the equipment is essential in order to allow the child to access the curriculum.It must also be clear that the existing IT. equipment in the school is insufficient to meet the child's needs. 

Equipment such as FM Radio systems and Soundfield systems for children with a hearing impairment, Braille equipment to assist children with a visual impairment as well as personal computers and specialist software are amongst the items funded by my Department. Schools apply to the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) through their local Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO) for such support. SENOs make recommendations to my Department where assistive technology is required. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in making recommendations for support in the form of Assistive Technology. 

Details of the funds that have been spent on the Assistive Technology Scheme, in primary and post primary schools in each year from 2012 to date in 2016, are included in the following table:

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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155. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the level of grant funding allocated to a group over each of the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18530/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department provides a range of resources for pupils with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), of which Dyslexia is one such SLD.

My Department’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides an educational psychology service to all primary and post primary schools through an assigned NEPS psychologist and in some cases through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA), full details of which are on the Department's website.

Funding is provided for Special Schools and Special Classes attached to mainstream primary schools which have been sanctioned to meet the needs of children with SLD, including Dyslexia. 

All mainstream schools have been allocated significant additional teaching resources to cater for children with high incidence special educational needs, including SLD. It is a matter for individual schools to use their professional judgment to identify pupils who will receive this support and to use the resources available to the school to intervene at the appropriate level with such pupils. Schools are supported in this regard by the NEPS.  

Schools are not required to apply directly to my Department for learning support for SLDs.  Schools should monitor and utilise their allocation of additional teaching support to best support the needs of identified pupils, in accordance with my Department's guidance. The teaching time afforded to each individual pupil is decided and managed by schools, taking into account each child's individual learning needs.

A new model for the allocation of teaching resources for children with special educational needs will be implemented from September 2017. 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. 

Circular 0013/2017 for primary schools and 0014/2017 for post primary schools, which were published on 7 March 2017, set out the details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools.  Allocations based on the school profiles were issued to all schools on 7 March. Details of the special education teaching allocations have also been published on the NCSE website. Schools will also receive guidance as to how they should deploy their resources to provide additional teaching support for pupils taking into account their individual learning needs. 

Funding is also available to schools for the purchase of specialised equipment such as computers and/or software to assist children with special educational needs, including children with SLDs, where relevant professionals recommend the equipment as being essential for the provision of education. Schools apply to the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) through their local Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO) for such support. SENOs make recommendations to my Department where assistive technology is required in accordance with the criteria set out in my Department's Circular 0010/2013.  

Further supports which are provided to support pupils with Dyslexia include an information resource pack on Dyslexia which has been made available to all primary and post-primary schools as well as provision for continuing professional development for teachers with additional training needs in the area of Dyslexia through the Special Education Support Service (SESS). The SESS manages, co-ordinates and develops a range of professional development and supports in response to identified teacher training needs. During the current school year (2016/17), specific courses were aimed at mainstream primary and post-primary classroom teachers, Learning Support and Resource Teachers who work with pupils with identified or unidentified specific literacy difficulties including dyslexia. These courses are designed to support teachers with appropriate and practical strategies to implement with their pupils across the school context. 60 teachers also availed of training this year in the Wilson Reading System which is a highly-specialised intensive programme on the development of reading for students with dyslexia.

My Department has provided funding to the Dyslexia Association of Ireland at national level which helps the organisation operate an information service for members and the public as well as assisting in meeting the costs associated with the attendance of some children from disadvantaged backgrounds at workshops and programmes organised by the association.

The total grant-aid provided by my Department to the Dyslexia Association of Ireland for the past 10 years, including funding provided to the Association for further education programmes, is as follows: