Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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170. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he has received correspondence from a person (details supplied) in County Donegal in which a number of serious issues have been outlined concerning schooling; the steps he will take to address this person's concerns; if a reply to the correspondence will now issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25325/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating SNAs to schools to support children with special educational needs, who have additional care needs, in accordance with DES criteria, as set out in Circular 0030/2014.

The NCSE allocates a quantum of SNA support for each school annually, taking into account the care needs of all of the qualifying children enrolled in the school, and on the basis of the assessed care needs of all of the children concerned, rather than solely by reference to a pupil's disability categorisation. SNA support is not allocated to individual children but to schools as a school based resource.

Schools applying for SNA support are required to submit a Personal Pupil Plan for each pupil specifically outlining the pupil’s identified special care needs, be linked to the individualised planning in place for each student and show how the SNA will be deployed to assist the pupil.

I am informed that, while the school had proposed a plan for the delivery of care support for the children in question utilising the SNA support provided by the NCSE, the plan was not agreed between the school and the children's parents. I am also advised that the children in question are now enrolled and attending another school in the area.

SNA support has been allocated by the NCSE to the school to which the children are now enrolled to cater for their additional care needs. My Department's National Educational Psychological Services (NEPS) and the Health Service Executive (HSE) are involved in the development of the children's Personal Pupil Plans (PPP), with the school. SNA support is in place to enable the children to attend school while the PPPs are being developed.

The plan must focus on the pro-active development of students’ independence skills and set out the programmes and strategies that are being used to meet the child’s needs, demonstrate how the school intends to actively reduce, and where appropriate, eliminate dependency on SNA support within a reasonable timeframe. The plan should include time-bound targets for the development of independence skills.

A reply from my Department to the parent in question will issue shortly, in relation to the correspondence received.