Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

84. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the gap between the provision of and need for social needs assistants in classrooms in schools especially in Lucan, County Dublin, Clondalkin and Dublin 22; and his plans to increase investment in 2019 and 2020 to meet current need. [2643/19]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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 , 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.

By the end of 2018 there were nearly 15,000 Special Needs Assistants working in our schools, a 42% increase on 2011.

The SNA allocation for Dublin increased from 2,869 posts at the end of the last school year to 4,234 posts for the 2018/19 school year.

I am satisfied that the very significant levels of additional provision we have made in recent years, to provide for extra SNAs, means that all schools, including those in Lucan, Clondalkin and Dublin 22, are sufficiently resourced to provide for the special educational needs and care needs of children in their schools.