Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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169. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a list of all developing schools broken down by primary and post-primary will be supplied in tabular form. [28783/21]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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A new model for allocating Special Education Teachers to mainstream schools was introduced from September 2017, based on the profiled needs of schools.

The allocations were updated for schools with effect from September 2019, with limited readjustments being applied for at that time.

The allocations have remained in place for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 school years, with some adjustments made over the course of the model for schools which achieved developing status, or successfully appealed on the grounds of exceptional circumstances arising in their schools. Allocations are also provided for new schools which open each year.

DES Circulars 007 and 008 2019, stated that the allocations being made for 2019 would initially remain in place for a minimum of two years, following which, revised profiled allocations would be considered for schools from September 2021.

The NCSE Policy advice ‘A Proposed new Model for Allocating Teaching Resources for Students with Special Educational Needs (2014)’ on which the SET allocation model is based, recommended that ‘the additional teaching supports be left in place initially for a two-year period. As the new model becomes embedded in the system, this may be extended to three years.’

In order to minimise disruption for schools, in the current circumstances, and to provide for continuity of allocations, the Minister for Education and the Minister for Special Education and Inclusion have agreed to maintain the existing Special Education Teacher Allocations for schools for the 2021/22 school year, with re profiled allocations now due to be made from September 2022.

Additional allocations will continue to be made for new schools, schools which achieve developing status, or for exceptional circumstances arising in schools, in the interim.

The criteria for qualification for mainstream school developing school posts for the 2021/22 school year are set out in the DES Circular Primary and Post Primary School Staffing Schedules for 2021/22.

Schools who qualify for additional mainstream developing school posts in accordance with these criteria will also qualify for additional Special Education Teaching Allocations to take account of this developing status, as follows:

(i) an additional 3 hours of SEN teaching supportwill beprovided for schools which have one developing post, or for a schools first developing post where they have more than one developing post

(ii) and 5 hours per each post thereafter, for each school which has two or more developing posts

The allocation of the additional hours will be made, effective from 1^stSeptember, once the enrolments have been confirmed from 30^thSeptember, 2021.

Whereas some provisional indication of the additional allocation that schools may expect to receive, may be provided to schools, based on projected enrolments, the allocations for additional Specal Education Teacher allocations are not confirmed for schools until the school enrolments are also confirmed after September 2021.

The list of primary and post primay schools who acheive developing school status for 2021 can be provided, however, it will not be available until later in the year, after the September enrolments have been confirmed.