Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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269. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether an organisation (details supplied) is fit to continue as a trustee of a school in view of its failure to do so at a location; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30945/18]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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271. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he has taken to address the disparity in educational provision provided by an organisation (details supplied) compared to another school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30947/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 269 and 271 together.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for determining the appropriate staffing levels in relation to the support of pupils with special educational needs in special schools, in accordance with the policies of my Department.

Enhanced pupil teacher and SNA ratios are provided to special schools to support them in dealing with pupils' educational and care needs.

Since 2012, special schools are staffed on the basis of the pupil population and the disability categorisation of those pupils, as opposed to being based principally on school designation, in accordance with my Department's Circular 0042/2011.

My Departments policy in relation to the provision of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) is set out in DES Circular 30/2014, which notes that the extent of SNA support provided to a school will be dependent of the assessed care needs of pupils attending the school.

School staffing schedules are reviewed and updated each year by the NCSE and schools are staffed on the basis of each years school enrolments.

My Department is not aware of any disparity in educational provision in relation to educational staffing in the school, which would conclude that the trusteeship of the school is unable to continue to fulfil its function.

The Deputy will be aware that the provision of Health Services, including the provision of therapy services is a matter for the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive.

The deputy will also be aware, however, that I recently announced that a demonstration project to provide in-school and pre-school therapy services will be introduced for the 2018/19 school year.

The purpose of the project is to test a model of tailored therapeutic supports that allows for early intervention in terms of providing speech and language and occupational therapy within ‘educational settings’. This innovative pilot will complement existing HSE funded provision of essential therapy services.

75 schools, including a representative sample of primary, post primary, and special schools will take part in the project. 75 pre-schools will also participate, giving 150 settings.

The project is taking place in Community Healthcare Organisation (CHO) 7 Region of South West Dublin, Kildare and West Wicklow and the schools selected will therefore be from this region.

As only one of the schools referred to in the Deputy’s question is in the CHO 7 region, only this school could be considered for inclusion, and be included in the demonstration project. Decisions in relation to the extension of the service to other areas will be taken following a full evaluation of the existing pilot phase.