Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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338. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the advertised SNA vacancy in a school (details supplied) will be filled. [41522/20]

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 and the procedures which states that the Board of Management 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 states 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