Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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877.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills how special needs assistants are allocated to primary schools, special schools and secondary schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33707/24]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority 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.

The support special needs assistants (SNAs) provide plays a central role in the successful inclusion of students with additional and significant care needs into mainstream education, special classes and special schools ensuring that these students can access education to enable them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) allocate SNAs to schools as a school based resource and not to individual children. The deployment of SNAs within schools is then managed by the individual principal/board of management. This is done with the understanding that SNAs should be deployed in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled for whom SNA support has been allocated. This method allows schools greater flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised.

Any school who feels that their allocation is insufficient to meet the needs of its students can apply to the NCSE for a review. Detailed information on the NCSE exceptional review process is published on the NCSE website.

As the NCSE have the responsibility for allocating SNAs to schools, I will arrange to have your query referred to the NCSE for their attention and direct reply.

Since 2011, the number of SNAs have increased in schools by 113%. The NCSE have published the SNA allocations for the 2024/25 school year. For ease of reference these allocations are broken down by school type and are available on the NCSE's website. In 2024, the number of SNA posts in our schools will increase by 1,216, this will mean we will have over 21,500 SNA’s who are focused wholly and exclusively on supporting these children.

Any school who believes that they have insufficient SNA resources to support the care needs of their students can apply to the NCSE for a review of its SNA allocation. A school that has such concerns should contact their local NCSE special education needs organiser (SENO) whose details are available on the NCSE website to discuss their concerns and for support with the application process. Each case is individually managed and following the outcome of the review, the SENO is available to the school to discuss the optimal deployment of SNA support within the school. In addition, NCSE in-school support is available to schools for further guidance. Detailed information on the NCSE SNA review process is published on the NCSE website.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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878.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children with special educational needs who had access to special needs assistants in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33708/24]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority 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.

As the deputy is aware the NCSE allocate special needs assistant (SNA) resources to mainstream schools as a school resource. These resources are then managed by the individual principal/board of management with the understanding that these resources should be deployed in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled for whom support has been allocated. This method allows schools greater flexibility in how these supports are utilised.

All schools must deploy their SNA resources in line with the continuum of support. Primacy within the continuum of support is that the child with the greatest level of need is provided with the greatest level of support, as a result the number of students supported is maintained at a local level.

Since 2011, the number of SNAs in schools has increased by 113%. Budget 2024 provided for an additional 1,216 SNA posts in our schools an increase on 2023 where 1,194 SNAs post were provided. This brings to over 21,500 the number of SNAs in our education system.

My department and the NCSE are committed to building on these numbers and 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.