John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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433. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of special needs assistants employed in primary schools in the Tallaght area, by school, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38582/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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In July I 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 NCSE has advised all schools of their allocations for SNA support for the coming 2017/18 school year; details of the SNA allocations which have been made to schools have also been published by the NCSE on their website. Details of the allocations to primary schools, including schools in Tallaght, are available at the following link .

Where a school has received its allocation of SNA support for 2017/18, but wishes new enrolments or assessments to be considered, which were not taken into account when the initial allocation was made, they may continue to make applications to the NCSE.

In circumstances where a school, or parent, is unhappy with the allocation of SNA support which has been made, or considers the level of SNA 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 which are set out at . The closing date for receipt of appeals is the 29th September 2017. Where a school submits an appeal the SENO would review the care needs of the children in the school and the allocation of SNA support to meet their care needs.