Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank the Deputy for the question and would like to advise the following:

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of Special Needs Organisers (SENOs), for fulfilling the functions of the Council in relation to the identification, delivery and co-ordination of education services to children with disabilities. The Council employs SENOs to provide a nationwide system of local services. Locally based SENOs consult widely with parents/guardians, teachers, health care professionals, school authorities, HSE and other relevant government agencies.

In Budget 2023, the government provided an additional €13 million for the expansion of services within the NCSE. This will mean an increase of up to 161 additional staff in the organisation, a workforce increase of 50%. As a result of the additional funding allocated to the NCSE, it is intended to increase the number of SENOs to approximately 120, from the previously sanctioned 73. They NCSE is progressively altering the current team structure, from a regional to a county basis with an assigned number of SENOs for each county.

The first intake of new SENO grades has already commenced and 12 additional SENOs joined in February. There will also be a further 20 SENO posts added by end March and an additional 20 posts added by the end of May. The recruitment process allows for training, induction, back-filling and the equitable distribution of cases on a county basis to new SENOs, without disrupting existing service to schools & children.

County Monaghan falls under North Team 2 which currently comprises of 7 SENOs, a team manager, regional manager and additional national support. The recent SENO recruitment competition has led to the NCSE extending offers of employment to a further 3 SENOs for this area with more to follow in the coming weeks.