Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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356. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will respond to correspondence (details supplied) in relation to the allocation of special needs assistants and rectify discrepancies in the allocation. [31475/20]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews.

The Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs. Such support is provided in order to facilitate the attendance of those pupils at school and also to minimise disruption to class or teaching time for the pupils concerned, or for their peers, and with a view to developing their independent living skills.

SNAs are not allocated to individual children but to schools as a school based resource. The deployment of SNAs within schools is a matter for the individual Principal/Board of Management of the school. SNAs should be deployed by the school in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated.

When a school has been allocated an SNA, the Board of Management, as the employer, is responsible for filling the vacancy. Details of the recruitment process which applies to SNAs is detailed in Department Circular 0051/2019: Recruitment and Appointment Procedures for Special Needs Assistants (SNAs),which is available on the Department’s website at:

Circular 0051/2019 sets out the role of the Board of Management in the appointment of SNA’s. The circular states that the Board of Management, in accordance with the procedures set out in the circular, is responsible for the appointment of SNAs in schools. Any such appointment is subject to the prior approval of the school’s Patron/ETB.

The Circular further sates that an SNA shall only be appointed to a post which is to be filled within the allocation of posts approved by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

The matter of Lucan Community National School increased SNA allocation approval is a matter for the NCSE. The Departments payroll only funds SNA posts sanctioned by the NCSE.

The query raised refers to the School's SNA allocation and related communications. Accordingly, I have referred the question to the NCSE for their direct reply. As Minister, I have no role in making determinations in individual cases.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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357. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way in which the additional funding for special needs assistants announced in budget 2021 will be allocated; and the way in which schools will avail of same. [31476/20]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Budget 2021 provided for an additional 990 additional SNAs for allocation to schools, bringing the total numbers to 18,000 by December 2020. This allocation of SNAs is to meet the care needs of pupils in 2021 and will enable the establishment of new special classes, creation of new places in special schools, support children in mainstream classes and the transition to the new allocation model for the 2021/22 school year.

There are currently 16,969 Special Needs Assistants allocated to schools. Budget 2021 increase to 18,000 Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts represents an increase of increase of 70% in the number of SNAs provided since 2011 at which point 10,575 SNAs were available.

A new model for allocating Special Needs Assistants to primary and post primary schools for students in mainstream classes only was to be introduced in the 2020/21 school year as part of the phased roll out of the School Inclusion Model (SIM).

In light of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis the Frontloaded Allocation Model for Special Needs Assistants was deferred until the beginning of the 2021/22 school year.

As it was too late to run the traditional applications-based process for the allocation model, special arrangements were put in place to facilitate SNA allocations for mainstream classes the 2020/21 school year. The arrangements did not impact on the way SNAs are allocated to special classes and special schools.

The SNA allocation that applied to mainstream classes were frozen from the date of issue of Circular 0030/2020 and automatically rolled over into the 2020/21 school year.

Schools can apply to the NCSE for additionality, by way of an exceptional review process, where they can demonstrate that the current allocation does not meet additional care needs within the mainstream classes in the school.

Further advice will issue in the course of the 2020/21 school year on the introduction of the frontloaded model with effect from September 2021. This will outline the overall approach, including the professional development and other supports to be made available for schools and teachers.