Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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1044. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will review the decision not to allocate a second SNA for a school (details supplied) in County Waterford through the exceptional review process given the significant care needs and early intervention requirements of a specific child; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40647/21]

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. My Department does not have a role in making determinations in individual cases and accordingly your question will be forwarded to the NCSE for direct response.

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.

In light of the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the introduction of the new Front-loaded Allocation Model for SNAs for students in mainstream classes in primary and post -primary schools is to be deferred for a further year to the beginning of the 2022/23 school year.

In order to minimise disruption for schools, in the current circumstances, and to provide for continuity of allocations the following arrangements for the allocation of Special Needs Assistants for mainstream classes for the 2021/22 school year:

- Existing mainstream class SNA allocations in schools on 30 April 2021 will be maintained and will automatically roll over into the 2021/22 school year.

- No school will therefore receive an allocation less than that which they had on 30 April 2021.

- SNAs currently in mainstream settings can continue in post for the next school year in the normal way.

- Priority consideration will now be given by the NCSE to applications for increased support for the 2021/22 school year, in particular, applications from schools with no SNAs and developing schools will be prioritised. Determinations will be made before 30 June. Other applications will be processed in order of date received.

- As in previous years, where circumstances change during the course of the 2021/22 school year that materially increase the level of care need in a school to the extent that the school can clearly demonstrate that it cannot be met within the existing SNA allocation, the school may apply to the NCSE for a review. Detailed information on the NCSE exceptional review process is published on the NCSE website .

The NCSE have published the SNA allocations on their website www.ncse.ie.

SNA allocations for special classes and special schools are not affected by this arrangement.

Circular 0029/2021 has been published and advises schools of the arrangements for the allocation of SNAs for the 2021/22 school year.

Provisions set out in Circular 0030/2020 has been extended for the 2021/22 school year.

Circulars 29/2021 and 30/2020 are available on the Departments website.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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1045. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the Summer Provision 2021; if the appointments process has met the needs of both staff and students; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40648/21]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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In May 2021 the Government announced a package of supports to allow primary and post primary to offer a summer programme for students with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage, as a COVID-19 pandemic response measure, for summer 2021.

The total funding available to provide summer programmes this year is up to €40 million, a one hundred per cent increase on the allocation for summer programmes in 2020.

The programme was developed following extensive engagement with education stakeholders, parent and disability advocacy groups.

The programme aims are to support pupils to maintain their connection with education, to build their confidence and increase their motivation, promote well-being and for those who are at key transition stages, help to ensure that they continue their education journey in September either in school or in further/higher education or training.

The programmes on offer this summer include a new 2-3 week summer programme available to all primary schools and an expansion of the existing programmes in special schools and classes and in DEIS schools.

Existing programmes:

- Literacy and numeracy camps in DEIS primary schools

- A school-based summer programme in primary special classes and special schools.

- Home-based provision for students with complex needs where no school-based programme is available.

New programmes:

- All primary schools had the opportunity to provide a 2 week summer programme for mainstream pupils with complex needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage.

- All Post Primary Schools had the opportunity to provide a 2 week summer programme for students with complex needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage

Similar to last year children with complex needs entering primary school next September are also eligible to participate in summer programmes.

This range of programmes on offer builds on the success of the expanded programmes that ran last year and incorporates feedback from education stakeholders as to how to better support the programme for all involved in summer 2021.

The Department has addressed concerns previously raised by stakeholders by introducing measures to support schools to encourage schools to offer the programme, funding for a programme overseer, preparation time, faster payments of staff, ease of administrative burden on schools and greater guidance materials on programme content.

In addition the programmes can be run at any time over the summer providing schools with autonomy to split the programme weeks to best meet the needs of pupils and staff participating in the programme. Schools were also given the opportunity to appeal any element of the resource allocation for the programme.

A home-based summer programme is available for students with complex special educational needs where a place on a school-based programme is not available to them. Under the home-based strand grant funding is made available so that parents/legal guardians can engage the services of a Teacher or an SNA to provide tuition or care support as appropriate in the child’s home. Parents of eligible children may arrange their programme over the school summer holidays to best suit their needs. An additional 10 hours has also been made available to pupils participating in the home-based programme who were eligible for the supplementary programme earlier in the year but were unable to avail of any hours at the time it was running.

Further details on the different strands including available supports are available at gov.ie/summerprovision. This includes promotional materials such as posters for parents, and information videos for schools. A dedicated helpline and email address has also been available to schools since the launch of the programme.

An extended timeline for registration was also provided. Schools had until 25 June 2021 to register.

The registrations as of 25June are as follows:

Post primary (no of schemes proposed to be run)

A total of 124 post primary schools have registered

Primary (number of schemes proposed to be run)

A total of 844 primary schools (including special schools have registered as providing at least one scheme.

Totals

A total of 968 primary and post primary schools registered for the programme

Claim forms for the home-based strand are submitted at the end of the programme, with a closing date of 03 September 2021, so actual participation numbers will not be available until late October/early November.

Last week I wrote to all schools that had registered for the programme, to thank them for their interest and inviting them to provide feedback on their experience.

In line with policy advice received from the NCSE, a review of the July Provision programme was commenced in 2019. This review process was paused due to the impact of COVID-19, during which the summer education programme was significantly enhanced and expanded to take into account the effect of school closures. The review of the programme will recommence at the earliest possible stage.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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1046. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the absence of autism spectrum disorder units in the primary and secondary schools in Ballybay, County Monaghan; the provision of ASD units in surrounding areas that covers this shortfall; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40651/21]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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1051. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the absence of any ASD units in the primary and secondary schools in Ballybay, County Monaghan; the provision of ASD units in surrounding areas that covers this shortfall; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40760/21]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1046 and 1051 together.

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government. The Department of Education will spend approximately €2 Billion or just under 25% of its total educational budget in 2021 on making additional provision for children with special educational needs this year.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide. It has well established structures in place for engaging with schools and parents. NCSE seeks to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all children who have been identified as needing special education placements.

NCSE is planning a further expansion of special education places nationally, to meet identified need. This process is ongoing. The NCSE have advised that there are sufficient classes at both primary and post primary level to meet the needs of students in the Ballybay area.

It is open to any school to make an application to the NCSE for the establishment of a specialised provision and where sanctioned, a range of supports, including capital funding, is made available to the school.

Notwithstanding the extent of this investment, there are some parts of the country where increases in population and other issues have led to concerns regarding a shortage of school places.

Through better planning at both national and local level, it is my objective that specialist education places should come on stream to meet emerging demand on a timely basis. However, the active collaboration of school communities is essential in this regard.

Through ongoing consultation at local level, the NCSE is aware of those parents whose children will be seeking placement for the 2021/22 academic year, including mainstream placement with appropriate support, special class placement, Early Intervention and special school placement. The NCSE continues to work to identify any and all relevant suitable placements.

The NCSE's local Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) are available to assist and advise both schools and the parents of children with special educational needs. Parents may contact SENOs directly using the contact details available at: .

The specific information requested by the Deputy on special classes is also available directly on the NCSE's website at www.ncse.ie.