Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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211. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will address the concerns of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32209/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that I recently announced that 975 additional SNAs will be available for allocation to schools from September 2017 which is a 7.5% increase to meet the demands for the new school year.

A total of 13,990 SNA posts will now be available at a gross annual cost of €458 million. This is more SNAs than we have ever had previously and will ensure that all children who qualify for SNA support can continue to receive access to such support.  In total, the number of SNAs available has increased by over 32% since 2011, when 10,575 posts were available.

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 processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports, including SNA support.

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. 

Responsibility for deciding on the quantum of educational supports and resources to be allocated to schools to support individual pupils rests with the NCSE. It should be noted that SNA allocations are not made to individual children, but are made to schools to support the care needs of children with assessed special educational needs in the school. 

The level of SNA support allocated to schools can change from year to year, as students with care needs leave the school, as new students with care needs enrol, or as students develop more independent living skills as they get older and their care needs diminish over time.

The National Council for Special Education has advised all schools of their allocations for SNA support for the coming 2017/18 school year. Details of the allocations which have been made to schools have now been published on their website www.ncse.ie.

The NCSE continues 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.  

In circumstances where a school, or parent, is unhappy with the allocation of SNA support which has been made, or considers the level of support allocated is not sufficient to meet the care needs of the pupils concerned, the school or parent may appeal that decision via the NCSE appeals process.  Details of the NCSE appeals process is available at www.ncse.ie.

The local SENO is available to discuss any concerns that parents have about the present or future educational needs of their child. All schools have the contact details of their local SENO and contact details are also available on the NCSE website at www.ncse.ie.