Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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196. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the process by which the National Council for Special Education fulfils its statutory function to plan and coordinate the provision of education and support services to children with autism spectrum disorder includes a mechanism to determine the number of places needed nationally on an annual basis in advance of the school year. [10578/19]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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The National Council for Special education (NCSE), an independent agency of my Department, is responsible for planning, coordinating and advising on education provision for children with special educational needs in consultation with the relevant education partners, the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Parents.

This includes identifying the number of children that will require special classes or special school placements. The NCSE, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), plans on an annual basis and long term basis to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all children who have been identified as needing special class placements.

Individual school boards of management are responsible for the establishment of special classes.  It is open to any school to make application to the NCSE to establish a class. In deciding where to establish a special class in an area, the NCSE takes account of the current and projected demand and the available school accommodation both current and planned.  In this regard, the SENO may approach individual schools to discuss the matter with a view to finding the optimal location in terms of convenience and sustainability.

When the NCSE sanctions a special class in a school, the school can apply to my Department for capital funding to reconfigure existing spaces within the school building to accommodate the class and/or to construct additional accommodation. 

Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) who are locally based are available to assist and advise parents whose children have special needs.  Where Parents have been unsuccessful in enrolling their child in a school, they should update their local SENO to inform the planning process.

SENOs are also available to assist and advise schools on special education supports and planning.

There are now 1,459 special classes in place, compared to 548 in 2011.  Of these 1,196 are ASD special classes.

124 special schools also provide specialist education for those students with complex special educational needs.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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197. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason the allocation for special education teaching hours was not increased in a school (details supplied) in County Wexford which will soon enrol an additional two children with complex needs; his views on whether the allocation of special education teaching hours for the school is fair; the areas in which special education teaching hours will be allocated when a school nearby closes at the end of June 2019; if additional supports will be provided to schools in the area in view of the closure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10585/19]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that this Government is investing heavily in supporting our children with special educational needs, with €1.8bn being spent annually, about €1 in every 5 of the education budget.

All mainstream schools are provided with special education teachers based on the profiled needs of their school.

There are currently almost 14,000 special education teachers in schools, an increase of 37% since 2011.

From September 2017, a new model for allocating special education teachers was introduced. This model allocates special education teachers to schools based on the profiled needs of schools, as opposed to the assessed needs of individual children.

The profiled allocations initially made to schools in 2017 have now been revised to take account of more up to date profiling data, including updated enrolments.

As reprofiling occurs, some schools will gain additional allocations, where the profile indicator data indicates these schools have additional needs.  Some schools will receive slightly reduced allocations, where the data indicates less need.

The data on which the revised allocations are based are set out in my Department's Circulars 007/2019 for primary schools and 008/2019 for post-primary schools.

The provision of a profiled allocation is designed to give a fair allocation for each school which recognises that all schools need an allocation for special needs support, but which provides a graduated allocation which takes into account the level of need in each school.

Schools are frontloaded with resources, based on each school’s profile. The allocations to schools include provision to support all pupils in the schools, including where a child receives a diagnosis after the allocation is received by a school, or where there are newly enrolling pupils to the school.

Notwithstanding this, adjustments can be made for schools which achieve rapidly developing status due to significantly increased enrolments, or where exceptional needs arise in a school.

In the event of a significant adjustment to the school profile occurring, for the school referred to in the Deputy’s question, or for other local schools in the area, which may arise from a school closure in the region, this can be taken into account.

As considerations are ongoing with regard to potentially amalgamating the closing school with another school in the area, it is not yet clear where the pupils from this school will enrol next September.

However, if there is a significant effect on the enrolments of a local school, from September 2019, account can be taken of this adjustment.