Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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143. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether it is appropriate for a child who has had the benefit of a special needs assistant, SNA, in national school to then go onto secondary school with no form of assistance. [42903/17]

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. 

The Circular sets out that a key goal of SNA support is to help children to develop independent living skills, and that continued and ongoing access to SNA support is generally not desirable for post-primary students, unless essential, as it can impede their independence and socialisation needs at an important developmental stage of their life. Accordingly, whereas SNA support will be provided to post primary schools when required, only pupils with chronic and serious care needs will normally be allocated SNA support in post primary schools.

In considering applications for SNA support from post primary schools, the NCSE will take into account the importance of the requirement to allocate necessary care supports with the right of a child to acquire personal independence skills.

The level of SNA support allocated to all 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.

All schools have been advised of their allocations for SNA support for the 2017/18 school year. Details of SNA allocations which have been made to schools have been published by the NCSE on their website at  .

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.

The NCSE Appeals Process may be invoked by a parent or a school where it is considered that a child was not granted access to SNA support on the grounds that my Department's policy was not met in accordance with Circular 0030/2014. Schools may also appeal a decision, where the school considers that the NCSE, in applying DES policy, has not allocated the appropriate level of SNA supports to the school to meet the special educational and/or care needs of the children concerned

All schools have the contact details of their local SENO and 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.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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145. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to address the two and a half year waiting list for access to a behavioural support unit at primary school level. [42905/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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This Government is committed to ensuring that all children with Special Educational Needs, including those with severe emotional behavioural disturbance, can have access to an education appropriate to their needs, preferably in school settings through the primary and post primary school network.

Such placements facilitate access to individualised education programmes which may draw from a range of appropriate educational interventions, delivered by fully qualified professional teachers, with the support of Special Needs Assistants and the appropriate school curriculum.

Some students, although academically able to access the curriculum in mainstream, may find it too difficult to manage full-time placement there. Enrolment in a special class can be considered for these students where it has been demonstrated that he/she is unable to learn effectively in a mainstream class for most or all of the school day even with appropriate supports.

Others students may have such complex needs that they are best placed in a special school.

Since 2011, the NCSE has increased the number of special classes by over 130% from 548 to 1,300 across the country now, of which 1,042 are Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) special classes and 11 special classes cater specifically for Severe Emotional Behavioural Disturbance.

The NCSE, which is an independent statutory agency, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), in consultation with the relevant education partners, is responsible for the establishment of special school and class placements in various geographical areas where there is an identified need.

The NCSE, in looking to open special classes, must take into account the present and future potential need for such classes, taking particular account of the educational needs of the children concerned. The NCSE will also take account of location and sustainability in looking to establish special classes in certain areas. 

Parents/guardians of children with special needs who may need advice or are experiencing difficulties in locating a school placement should contact their local Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO) as soon as possible for information on available places. The local SENO contact details are available on www.ncse.ie.

In the case of all new schools, it is general practice to include a Special Needs Unit (SNU) in the accommodation brief for new school buildings, unless local circumstances indicate that it will not be required. Typically, a two classroom SNU is provided in new primary schools and a two or four classroom unit is provided in new post primary schools.

In the case of existing schools, where a school is not in a position to accommodate a special class within its existing accommodation, it is open to the school to submit an application to the Department for capital funding to (i) re-configure existing spaces within the school building to accommodate the class or (ii) to construct additional accommodation.

My Department continues to work with the NCSE to ensure that any required additional special class placements will be available for the forthcoming school years.