Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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90. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a decision has been made on the review of a special needs assistant allocation in respect of a school (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6945/22]

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 Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) and reviews. The NCSE have published the SNA allocations on their website www.ncse.ie.

The 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 based on the principle that those with the greatest needs receive the greatest level of support. Guidance is available to schools on the allocation of SNA support within the schools, 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. Furthermore, 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 Gov.ie website: www.gov.ie/en/circulars/?organisation=department-of-education

The NCSE manages the exceptional review process and handles each case individually. Some review requests can be concluded as an office based exercise, whilst others require a school to be visited in order to observe the current deployment of SNA support in the school setting.

The timeframe for concluding a review can vary depending on the school context or the nature of the information provided.

The NCSE have confirmed that following an application for a review the school visit took place on 29/11/2021 and that the outcome of the review will issue to the school shortly.

My Department does not have a role in making individual school determinations.