Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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237. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he expects to be in a position to continue to ensure the availability of adequate special needs teaching places in all primary and secondary schools in County Kildare and throughout the country in the short to medium term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29692/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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DES Circulars 0013/2017 for primary schools and 0014/2017 for post primary schools set out details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools.

The revised allocation process replaces the previous generalised allocation processes combined with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) allocation process which provided additional resource teaching supports to schools, to support pupils assessed as having Low Incidence disabilities.

The new Special Education Teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school’s educational profile.

It ensures that all school receive an allocation for special education teaching resources based on the schools profile.

An additional 900 teaching posts have been provided to support the introduction of this new allocation model. The provision of an additional 900 teaching posts is a very significant investment in the provision of additional teaching support for pupils with special educational needs in our schools.

The additional funding provided additional supports to over 1300 schools who identified as needing additional supports as a result of the new model, while ensuring that no school received a reduced allocation.

The Government is committed to helping every child, particularly those with special educational needs, to fulfil their potential.

In 2018, my Department will invest over €1.78 billion in this area - 1/5 of my Department's budget and up 42% since 2011, at which point €1.24 billion was invested. This increased investment has allowed the Government to increase the number of:

- SNAs by 42%, from 10,575 in 2011 to 15,000 by the end of 2018.

- Special classes by 138% to over 1,300 at present, compared to 548 special classes in 2011.

- Special education teachers by 38% from 9,630 in 2011 to over 13,300 at present in 2018.

This level of commitment and provision, particularly in relation to the provision of additional special education teachers, will ensure that adequate special needs teaching resources can continue to be provided for all primary and secondary schools, including those in County Kildare, at present and in future.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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238. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he expects to be in a position to continue to ensure the availability of an adequate number of # SNAs in all primary and secondary schools in County Kildare and throughout the country in the short to medium term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29693/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible 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 Department Circular 0030/2014, which is available on the 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.

In considering applications for SNA support for individual pupils, the NCSE take account of the pupils' needs and consider the resources available to the school to identify whether additionality is needed or whether the school might reasonably be expected to meet the needs of the pupils from its current level of resources.

SNA allocations to all schools can change from year to year as children with care needs leave the school, as new children with care needs enrol in a school and as children develop more independent living skills and their care needs diminish over time.

My Department’s policy is to ensure that every child who is assessed as needing SNA support will receive access to such support. In line with this policy, I announced in May 2018 that 800 additional SNAs will be allocated for the beginning of the next school year, with a further 140 expected to be allocated by the end of the year.

By the end of this year, there will be a total of 15,000 Special Needs Assistants working in our schools, a 42% increase on 2011.

The SNA allocation for County Kildare increased form 584.63 posts to 629.37 posts for the 2018/19 school year.