Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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485. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will assist in the provision of an additional special needs assistant for a child (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37964/20]

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 Department does not have a role in making individual school determinations. Accordingly, the question and correspondence has been referred to the NCSE for direct reply.

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.

It is a matter for schools to allocate support as required, and on the basis of individual need, which allows schools flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised.

Schools were notified of the arrangements for the allocation of SNA support in respect of students in mainstream classes for the current school year. The arrangements include the following provisions:

- 2019/20 mainstream class SNA allocations were frozen, from the date of issue of Circular 0030/2020, and have automatically rolled over into the current school year. This means that no school will receive an allocation less than that which they have on the date of issue of this Circular and existing SNAs currently in standard SNA posts were allowed to continue in these posts for the current school year in the normal way.

- A diagnosis of a disability, or a psychological or other professional report, is not be necessary for this process.

- The role of the SNA to support the care needs of students in mainstream classes, as set out in Circular 0030/2014, remains unchanged.

It is expected that schools will review and reprioritise the deployment of SNAs within mainstream settings and allocate resources to ensure those with the greatest level of need receive the greatest level of support. Providing access to SNA support continues to be based on primary care needs as outlined in DES Circular 0030/2014.

Schools may apply to the NCSE for additionality where they can demonstrate that the current allocation does not meet additional care needs within the mainstream classes in the school. Applications for additionality arising from significant new or emerging additional care needs, which cannot be catered within existing allocations, are dealt with by way of the exceptional review process.

The exceptional review process for mainstream allocations is available to schools throughout the current school year.

Detailed information on the NCSE exceptional review process is published on the NCSE website www.ncse.ie.

A school can appeal the outcome of an exceptional review and details of how to do this are here .

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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486. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of current permanent English as an additional language, EAL, posts in primary schools nationally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37969/20]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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487. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of current permanent English as an additional language, EAL, posts in primary schools in County Donegal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37970/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 486 and 487 together.

Each primary school receives a Special Education Teaching allocation. The 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 and also encompasses the Language Support (EAL) allocation that schools were allocated in previous years.

The Department also provides additional allocations for schools with high concentration of pupils that require language support. Prior to the 2012/2013 school year, these posts were allocated on a temporary basis by way of applications by individual schools. The reforms introduced in the 12/13 school year provided for permanent EAL posts to be allocated to schools who had previously held temporary posts. There are 375 permanent EAL posts in primary schools, with 4 schools in Co. Donegal having a permanent EAL position.

Further temporary Language Support is also provided, as necessary, to schools that have high concentrations of pupils that require language (EAL) support. At primary level, these allocations are made on the basis of appeals by schools to the Primary Staffing Appeals Board.