Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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301. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost per annum of providing behaviour analysts with direct employment contracts. [26207/23]

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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302. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of behaviour analysts, by county in 2021, 2022 and 2023 to date; and the cost of same, in tabular form. [26208/23]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 301 and 302 together.

I would like to thank the Deputy for the question and would like to advise the following:

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government. It is also a key priority for me as Minister for Special Education & Inclusion, for my Department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special classes and special school places are provided.

For 2023, the spend by my Department on special education will be substantially increased by over 10% on last year, meaning that for 2023 my Department will spend over €2.6 billion on special education.

This level of educational funding and support is unprecedented and represents in excess of 27% of the Department’s total allocation for 2023.

This includes funding to support children with special educational needs in mainstream classes; funding for new special classes and new special school places; additional special educational teachers, special needs assistants (SNAs) and funding for the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS).

In 2023, the number of teaching and SNA posts in our schools will increase with an additional 686 teachers and a further 1,194 SNAs in our schools next year.

For the first time ever we will have over 19,000 teachers working in the area of special education and over 20,000 SNAs. Together we will have almost 40,000 qualified and committed people in our schools who are focused wholly and exclusively on supporting children with special educational needs.

The Department of Education does not generally allocate Behaviour Analyst posts to special schools. The Deputy may be aware that my Department previously funded 13 centres through an applied behavioural analysis (ABA) pilot scheme for the period 1999-2011. All of these centres applied for and were granted recognition as special schools for children with autism and now form part of the network of special schools. A transitional agreement was put in place between the Department and patrons of these schools to manage this process.

As part of the transitional agreement my Department continues to provide grant funding to these schools to engage behaviour practitioners at an annual cost of €847,982. These practitioners are employed at local level and all salary payment arrangements are made by the employing school at local level.

I can assure the Deputy that my Department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.