Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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312. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which the education of children with special needs is being accommodated in 2022 and thereafter; the extent to which plans are afoot to meet such needs in a comprehensive way; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13788/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Special Education Teachers: The Special Education Teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school’s educational profile.

Under the allocation model, schools have been provided with a total allocation for special education needs support based on their school profile. 

In order to minimise disruption for schools, due to the Covid pandemic and to provide for continuity of allocations, the Minister for Education and the Minister for Special Education and Inclusion 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.

Both the Department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) are committed to ensuring that all schools are treated equally and fairly in the manner in which their school profiles have been calculated.

Accordingly, a number of review processes have been put in place to support schools.

A process is in place to address circumstances where the school profile significantly changed following the allocation process e.g. a developing school where the net enrolment numbers significantly increased.

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

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

It is also acknowledged that there are some circumstances, which may arise in schools, which fall outside the allocations for developing school status.

These relate to exceptional or emergency circumstances which could not have been anticipated e.g. where the school profile changes very significantly, or where other exceptional circumstances have arisen in a school and which may require a review of schools capacity to provide additional teaching support for all pupils who need it in the school, or of their utilisation of their allocations.

A process is available where schools can seek a review of their allocations by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), including the utilisation of their allocations, in circumstances where a school considers that very exceptional circumstances have arisen subsequent to the development of the profile.

Working is ongoing on the re-profiling for 2022/2023 school year and this will be concluded shortly.

Special Needs Assistants

The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. The Department does not have a role in making individual school determinations.

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. 

Schools were notified of the arrangements for the allocation of SNA support in respect of students in mainstream classes for the current school year.  The arrangements include the following provisions: 

- 2019/20 mainstream class SNA allocations were frozen, from the date of issue of Circular 0030/2020, and have automatically rolled over into the current school year. This means that no school will receive an allocation less than that which they have on the date of issue of this Circular and existing SNAs currently in standard SNA posts were allowed to continue in these posts for the current school year in the normal way.  

- A diagnosis of a disability, or a psychological or other professional report, is not be necessary for this process.  

The role of the SNA to support the care needs of students in mainstream classes, as set out in Circular 0030/2014, remains unchanged.

It is expected that schools will review and reprioritise the deployment of SNAs within mainstream settings and allocate resources to ensure those with the greatest level of need receive the greatest level of support. Providing access to SNA support continues to be based on primary care needs as outlined in DES Circular 0030/2014.

Schools may apply to the NCSE for additionality where they can demonstrate that the current allocation does not meet additional care needs within the mainstream classes in the school. Applications for additionality arising from significant new or emerging additional care needs, which cannot be catered within existing allocations, are dealt with by way of the exceptional review process.  

The exceptional review process for mainstream allocations is available to schools throughout the current school year.

The arrangements for the allocation of SNAs for mainstream classes for the 2022/23 school year are currently under review. An announcement on the matter will be made as soon as possible.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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313. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which special needs assistants are available in primary and post-primary schools throughout north County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13789/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The provision of education for children with special needs is an ongoing priority for Government. The numbers of special classes, special education teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) are at unprecedented levels.  

Very significant levels of financial provision are made to ensure that children with special educational needs, including those in Kildare, can be provided with an education appropriate to their needs. 

The provision of education for children with special needs is an ongoing priority for Government.  The numbers of special classes, special education teachers and Special Needs Assistants are at unprecedented levels.  

The State currently spends in excess of 25% of its annual education and training budget (€9.2 Billion) on making additional provision for children with special educational needs.

This represents an increase of over 60% in total expenditure since 2011, at which point €1.247 Billion per annum was provided.

Budget 2021 provided an additional 990 Special Needs Assistants. This resulted in 18,004 SNAs having been allocated to schools by 31st December 2021

Budget 2022 provides funding for an additional 1,165 SNAs (in 2022) to provide support to children with special educational needs, which will bring the total number of SNAs to 19,169 at the end of December 2022.

Provision for 19,169 SNAs as at 31st December 2022 will represent an increase of 81% since 2011 at which time 10,575 were provided.

The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. The Department does not have a role in making individual school determinations.

The NCSE publish statistics on SNA allocations to primary, post primary and special schools in tabular form, by county and by school, for each school year, this information is available on their website, www.ncse.ie.

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.

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