Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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506. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to increase the number of autism spectrum disorder unit places in primary and secondary schools in the Dublin 9 and 11 areas; the timescale for delivery of each in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10022/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government.

This year, my Department will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs nationwide.

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.

The NCSE continues to work closely with schools within the areas referred to by the Deputy and liaises regularly with the Planning and Building Unit within my Department as part of the process of establishing new classes for the 2022/2023 school year and beyond. As part of this process, both national and local information in relation to projected demand for future special class places for students with autism is considered. Such planning takes into consideration the current availability of special class places and focuses on locations where additional provision may be required.

There are currently 19 special classes (including 1 Early Intervention class) attached to mainstream schools providing ASD placements for students in Dublin 9 and Dublin 11 at primary and post primary level. 4 new special classes for students with autism have been established for the current 2021/22 school year, thus providing an additional 24 special class placements across 4 schools for students with autism.

My Department and the NCSE is grateful to those schools that have responded and continue to respond positively to meet the educational needs of children in their communities.

The NCSE through its network of local Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs), having established the level of demand locally, are actively engaging with the management authorities of all schools in the Dublin area, including in Dublin 9 and 11, on the opening of additional ASD classes for 2022/23 and beyond.

The opening of some of the planned special class places is dependent on the completion of building works.

Parents seeking special class placements for their children are advised to contact NCSE locally so that their needs can be taken into account for planning purposes.

The local SENOs remain available to assist and advise parents of children with special educational needs. Parents may contact SENOs directly using the contact details available ates-contact-list.

Information on the list of schools with special classes, the type and location of these classes is published on the NCSE website and is available at: ncse.ie/special-classes.

Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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507. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when details of the new model for allocating special needs assistants to schools will be known; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that schools are enrolling students with additional needs now but that they have to wait until May 2022 before they know what supports will be available to them; her views on whether this could lead to a large number of exceptional reviews being submitted to her Department which will cause delays; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10050/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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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.

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: ncse.ie/for-schools.

All stakeholders will be advised when the SNA allocation process has been completed and this will be done in line with previous years in May.