Special Educational Needs
Dail Éireann — 2022-12-06
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James Browne (FF), Wexford

I thank Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan for raising this important issue as it gives me an opportunity, on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, to outline the current position regarding the SNA allocation at Scoil Eoin National School in Innishannon, County Cork. I stress that enabling students with additional needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is an ongoing priority for this Government. In 2022, the Department of the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, will spend over €2.3 billion, or over 25% of the Department's budget, on providing a wide range of schemes and supports for children with special educational needs. In 2023, this spend will be substantially increased by over 10%, meaning that the Department of Education will spend over €2.6 billion on special education. This level of educational funding and support is unprecedented and represents more than 27% of the Department's total allocation for 2023. This includes funding for new special classes, new special school places, additional special education teachers and special needs assistants.
The NCSE has responsibility for planning and co-ordinating school supports for children with special educational needs, including the allocation of SNAs and reviews, and the school should liaise with the NCSE directly in the event that additional supports are required. The Department of Education does not have a role in making individual school determinations. The special needs assistant 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. Such support is provided to facilitate the attendance of those pupils at school and to minimise disruption to class or teaching time for the pupils concerned or for their peers and with a view to developing their independent living skills.
SNAs are not allocated to individual children but to schools as a school-based resource. The deployment of SNAs within schools is a matter for the individual principal or board of management of the school. SNAs should be deployed by the school in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated. 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 NCSE confirmed that the school has an allocation of SNA support to provide support for children with primary care needs. The school got an increase in its special class allocation of SNA support this year of 0.83 to bring it to 2.66 and there was no change to its mainstream allocation of 3.83. The following arrangements for the allocation of SNA support in respect of students in mainstream classes for 2022-23 will apply. The SNA allocations for mainstream classes in schools on 31 May 2022 will be maintained. This will provide greater certainty for schools. There will be a process for schools to engage with the NCSE if they consider their SNA allocation is in excess of the required care needs. Schools should contact their local NCSE special education needs organiser to commence the process.
The exceptional review process undertaken by the NCSE will remain in place throughout the 2022-23 school year, where schools can seek a review of their SNA allocations, which will result in one of the following outcomes whereby no change in the level of care need, an increase in the level of care need or a decrease in the level of care need may be identified in the school. It is expected that schools will review and reprioritise the deployment of SNAs within mainstream settings and allocate resources to ensure those with the greatest level of need receive the greatest level of support.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2022-12-06/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:23+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-12-06