Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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152. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the ongoing efforts her Department is making to recruit SNAs and the number of SNAs gaining qualifications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4094/23]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank the Deputy for the question and reassure him that the provision of education for children with special needs is a priority for Government and for me as Minister for Special Education and Inclusion. This is reflected in my Department’s 2023 budget allocation of more than €2.6 billion to support special education. This level of educational funding and support is unprecedented and represents in excess of 27% of the Department of Education’s total allocation for 2023.

Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) provide schools with additional adult support staff to assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs. Such support is provided in order to facilitate attendance by 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 allocated to schools by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) who also undertake exceptional reviews where schools indicate that there are additional care needs beyond the existing SNA allocation. In recent years schools have maintained their SNA allocations and since 2020 over 2,000 additional SNA posts have been added including 1,194 provided in Budget 2023.

As the employer schools comply with nationally agreed guidelines for the recruitment and appointment of SNAs. Generally speaking, if a SNA is no longer required in their existing school, they are placed on deployment panels and have first option to apply for newly created SNA posts in nearby schools. The timelines therefore for schools to fill vacant SNA posts varies from school to school and nationwide, depending on the numbers of posts available to be filled at any one time. In addition, for SNA staff coming from outside the education sector, time required to give notice to an existing employer can also impact on the start time in the new SNA post. Overall, however, there is no evidence that schools are having any difficulties in recruiting or retaining SNA staff, including for short-term vacancies such as sick leave and/or maternity leave.

The 2018 Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme published by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) includes a recommendation for the provision of a national online training programme for existing SNAs who do not have the requisite level of relevant training. Arising from this recommendation my Department awarded a four-year contract to University College Dublin (UCD) School of Education to design and deliver a new national online training programme for Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) employed in schools. The programme is fully funded by the Department and delivered at no cost to the SNA.

The national on-line training programme for SNAs is a major educational initiative, which will enhance the knowledge, skills and expertise of SNAs who are crucial to the inclusion of students with additional care needs in education. This is a high-quality and innovative pilot training programme which will inform ongoing policy considerations relating to future training options for SNAs.

It is intended to accredit the programme as a Level 6 Special Purpose Award on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ). UCD has advised the Department that work has commenced to accredit the programme under UCD’s standard programme approval procedures. UCD is also considering how previous graduates from the programme might have their award accredited retrospectively. Approximately 1,300 SNAs have completed the course to date and it is intended that the programme will be delivered to up to 3,500 SNAs over the four year scheme funded by my Department of Education.

By the end of 2023, there will be over 20,000 Special Needs Assistants working in our schools and my Department is very aware of the continuing need to provide appropriate training and development opportunities with a view to supporting the inclusion of students with additional care needs in education.