Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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116. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will prioritise special needs assistant, SNA, applications from newly established schools announced in May 2017; and if he will ensure adequate SNA support is in place when they open in September 2017 in view of the fact the announcement came one month after the deadline for SNA applications by schools. [23379/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) are provided to assist recognised schools to cater for pupils with disabilities, who have additional and significant care needs, in an educational context and where the nature of these care needs have been outlined in medical and other professional reports as being so significant that a pupil will require additional adult assistance in order to be able to attend school and to participate in education.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is an independent statutory agency, is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school.

The NCSE allocates SNA support to schools 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 SNA support as and when it is needed. My Department’s policy is to ensure that every child who is assessed as needing SNA support will receive access to such support.

Schools who wish to make applications for SNA support should apply to the NCSE. All schools have the contact details of their local SENO. Contact details are also available on the NCSE website. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.

All schools, including newly established schools were asked to apply for SNA support for the 2017/18 school year by 6th April 2017. The NCSE will continue to process applications for access to SNA support which are received after the April deadline. Such applications will be processed in the order in which the applications are received. Schools will be advised of their SNA allocations for the 2016/17 school year, prior to the end of the current school year.

Once allocated, the recruitment and deployment of SNAs within schools are then matters for the individual Principal/Board of Management. SNAs should be deployed by the school in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated. It is a matter for schools to allocate support as required, and on the basis of individual need, which allows schools flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised.

Where a school wish to appeal the SNA support 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.