Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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990. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Questions 397 and 398 of 31 May 2022, if her Department could examine the figures provided in view of the fact that in a reply to a previous Parliamentary Question the figure was 730 (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29629/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Ensuring that every child with special educational needs gets a suitable education is a priority for the Department of Education.

This year, the Department of Education will invest in excess of €2 billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget in the area of special educational needs support. The numbers of special education teachers, special needs assistants and special class and school places are at unprecedented levels.

The Department and the NCSE is planning for special school and special class provision nationwide on an ongoing basis. In recent years the NCSE has enhanced their long term forecasting models and there has been increased engagement and coordination between the Department and the NCSE. This enhanced long term forecasting model and engagement allows for a more efficient and streamlined process of establishing special education places. It allows us to make the best use of our expertise, information and knowledge to help inform decisions around education provision.

Since 2011, the number of special classes in mainstream schools has increased from 548 to a current total of 2,148 for the 2021/2022 school year.

Budget 2022 has provided for the creation of 287 additional special classes for the 2022/2023 school year. These additional classes will provide over 1,700 new places this year. This additional provision will bring the total number of special classes to 2,435 in the 2022/2023 school year.

My Department provides funding through a Home Tuition Grant Scheme towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of specific reasons, are unable to attend school, outlined below.

Home tuition is not an alternative to a school placement and is provided in very limited and specific circumstances.

The Department provides home tuition grant schemes to provide funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of specific reasons, are unable to attend school,

This strand of the Home Tuition Scheme provides funding towards a compensatory educational service for children with special educational needs for whom such a placement is not available. The scheme also provides for early educational intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) ,who meet the scheme’s criteria, aged from 2.5 - 5 years before they start in school.

Children aged 4 years and over, including those with ASD, may enrol in primary placements (including special class and special schools placements). All children must be enrolled in the primary school system, whether through placement in mainstream classes, in special classes or in special schools in the September prior to their sixth birthday.

In such circumstances the NCSE will actively engage at local level with schools, Patron Bodies and the families to ensure that suitable places are provided as soon as possible.

If, following completion of that work, the NCSE has not been able to establish the required school placements it can activate the provisions contained in section 37A of the Education Act 1998 if required.

The medical strand of the Home Tuition Scheme provides funding towards a compensatory educational service for students, enrolled in schools, with significant medical conditions which has caused, and is likely to continue to cause, major disruption to their attendance at school.

In exceptional cases the Department will provide home tuition applications on behalf of students with diagnoses of school phobia and/or associated depression/anxiety which causes major disruption to their attendance at school. This exception will only apply where a continued absence from school is required to facilitate appropriate medical or therapeutic intervention with a view to the re-integration of the student in their school.

The following table outlines the number of home tuition sanctions for the last 2 years under the different categories.

* These relate in the main to the early intervention supports available to students before they commence in primary school.

** These children with SEN were 6 years old when sanction was approved and without the offer of a school place.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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991. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason that a special school (details supplied) was allocated an additional class teacher due to the increasing numbers of children with autism enrolling but did not get an additional SNA post to support the new class. [29630/22]

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 SNAs and reviews.

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.

SNA support is allocated to special classes and special schools by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). The NCSE have published the SNA allocations on their website www.ncse.ie.

Under the allocation model for special classes and special schools, the SNA allocation can change from year to year as children with care needs leave the school, as new children with care needs enrol in a school and as children develop more independent living skills and their care needs diminish over time. There is a prescribed special class to SNA ratio.

ASD special classes have an allocation of 1 teacher and 2 SNA posts to cater for the educational and care needs of 6 students.

Additional SNA support may also be sanctioned by the NCSE where there are individual children who have significant care needs which require support above the level of support already sanctioned to the school. In such circumstances, the school may apply to the NCSE for access to additional care supports, clearly outlining the reason why the additional support is necessary.

Detailed information on the NCSE Exceptional Review process is published on the NCSE website. ncse.ie/application-for-sna-exceptional-review.

My Department does not have a role in making individual school determinations and the school should liaise with the NCSE directly in the event that additional supports are required.