Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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341. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the total staff and budget of the NCSE divided across each service delivered. [9639/23]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) was established as an independent statutory body by order of the Minister for Education and Science in December 2003.The council was set up to improve the delivery of education services to persons with special educational needs arising from disabilities with particular emphasis on children.

A local service is delivered through the NCSE’s national network of Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) who interact with parents and schools and liaise with the HSE in providing resources to support children with special educational needs.

The NCSE deal with over 20,000 applications for support a year and deliver decisions to schools. In sanctioning resources for schools the council operate within Department of Education policy parameters. However, in doing so their SENOs talk to schools, parents , HSE providers and other professionals before making decisions to ensure that the decision made is the best fit for the individual pupil.

A key aim of the Council is to progressively improve the co-ordination between the education and health sectors in providing the supports for children with special educational needs. This is done through participation in the Education/Health Cross Sectoral Group which includes representation from the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Children and the HSE at national level and through interaction with the HSE and their service providers at local level.

The NCSE has a substantial research programme and have published a number of report which helps to inform best practice in the special education area and provide a basis for developing policy advice as appropriate.

The 2023 budget allocation for NCSE of €28.3m is made up of €18.2m pay and €10.1m non pay. This will provide for expansion of the service enabling an organisation of 426 staff members.

A further breakdown of the NCSE 2023 budget and employees by grade is attached.