Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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386. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when schools will be notified of their allocation of SNAs for the academic year 2022-2023. [27482/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The number of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) in our schools is at unprecedented levels. 

Budget 2022 provides for an additional 1,165 SNAs to provide support to children with special educational needs. This will bring the total number of SNAs to 19,169 by the end of 2022. This represents an increase of 81% in SNA numbers since 2011 when 10,575 SNAs were working in our schools.  

The availability of SNAs is critical to the inclusion of students with significant care needs in education and in school life.

SNAs carry out very important care functions for children with care needs in the school.  The purpose of their role is to enable children with significant care needs to attend school and participate in school activities to the maximum possible extent. 

The purpose of the SNAs in the classroom is to address the immediate physical care needs of the student and encourage their independence.  Over time, with their assistance and support, students will become more independent and self-autonomous in these matters.  

SNAs are whole school resources to be allocated to meet the needs of those students in greatest need.

A key consideration in the allocation of SNAs is to ensure that those students with the greatest level of care needs receive the most support. This is a key principle underlying Department policy on special education. The allocation system must be objective and fair with the capacity to take account of local and individual circumstances. 

Work is ongoing in terms of the SNA allocation for the school year 2022/2023. Department officials will engage with the education partners and information on the SNA allocation will issue to schools shortly. 

Many students with SEN enrolled in mainstream classes do not have significant care needs and are supported through the Special Education Teacher (SET) allocation in line with their need.

In mid-April Department officials issued updated staffing allocations for the 2022/23 school year to include SET allocations. This ensured that schools were aware of their teaching resources and this allowed them to make the necessary arrangements to ensure that the teaching and learning needs for pupils with SEN can be properly supported. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has also provided guidance and support to schools to assist them in ensuring that the resources being provided are best managed to meet the needs of pupils with SEN. The support includes training and advice from special education professionals within the NCSE as part of the NCSE regional support teams.  

The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) are also available to support schools and teachers  in providing a Continuum of Support to their students with SEN.

Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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387. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration has been given to paying SNAs the same rate as teachers for July provision; and the estimated annual cost of this increase. [27483/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Earlier this month, the Government announced this year's Summer Programme to allow all primary and post-primary schools to offer a summer programme for students with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage.

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

Building on the 2021 programme, all primary and post primary schools can offer a summer programme and in line with last year’s funding, there is up to €40 million available to provide for this year’s programme

My Department recognises that not all schools will be in a position to provide a school-based programme.  A home-based summer programme will continue to be available for children with complex needs where their schools are not providing a school-based programme.

Under the home-based programme 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.

Teachers and SNAs are paid per hour of tuition/care support delivered in line with agreed terms and public service pay agreements. Public service pay is dealt with through centralised engagement and collective bargaining between Government and the public service unions.

Supporting documentation for the home-based programme, including a detailed Overview document for parents/teachers/SNAs has been published on www.gov.ie/summerprogramme.