Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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701. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will consider introducing a timebound appeals process for schools appealing to the NCSE, in order that they might have a prospective date by which they will receive a response. [13148/23]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is a statutory body whose functions include planning and co-ordinating the provision of education and support services to children with special educational needs in conjunction with schools and the Health Service Executive (HSE).

The NCSE through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports. Schools should liaise with the NCSE directly in the event that additional supports are required.

All schools have an allocation of teaching support for pupils with special educational needs. The Special Education Teaching (SET) allocation allows schools to provide additional teaching support for all pupils who require such support in their schools and for schools to deploy resources based on each pupil’s individual learning needs.

A process is available where schools can seek a review of their SET allocation by the NCSE, including the utilisation of their allocations. Detailed information on the NCSE review process is published on the NCSE website ncse.ie/special-education-teachers.

The 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. SNAs are not allocated to individual children but to schools as a school based resource.

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.

The school can also apply to the NCSE for a review of its SNA allocation if it is insufficient to meet the needs of its students. Detailed information on the NCSE Exceptional Review process is published on the NCSE website. ncse.ie/application-for-sna-exceptional-review.

The NCSE manages the 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.

As the matter raised relates to internal NCSE processes we have forwarded the PQ for direct response to the deputy by the NCSE.