Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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229. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which special needs teachers and SNAs continue to be available to the extent required in County Kildare, and all areas throughout the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30856/24]

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.

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.

Successive budgets have included 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 2024, the number of special education teaching and SNA posts in our schools will increase by 744 and 1,216 respectively to deliver up to 2,700 new places for children with special educational needs. This will mean we will have over 41,500 qualified and committed people in our schools who are focused wholly and exclusively on supporting these children.

The allocation of Special Education Teachers to schools to support mainstream classes based on each schools educational needs profile, for the commencement of the new school year, was announced in February 2024 to allow schools (including those in Kildare) to plan for the new school year.

As part of the allocation process the Department acknowledged that every school is different, and that schools can experience unique circumstances that may be difficult to reflect in any standardised method. This is always a challenge when making allocations in respect of 4,000 schools.

It is for this reason that the Department, working with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) streamlined the review process for special education teaching hours.

The purpose of the review process is to ensure that, during the NCSE reviews, that any additional identified need is addressed and to ensure sufficient SET resources were available in schools to meet the needs identified.

A total of 158 valid applications for review were received by the NCSE. All of these reviews have now been completed.

On completion of the reviews, the NCSE made a recommendation to the department that 135 schools warranted an increased allocation. The NCSE also advised the quantum of the increase required.

In all case the department accepted the recommendation and advised the NCSE of the approval of the additional hours.

The 135 schools received increased allocated hours of 1,232 with increases ranging from 2.5 to 27.5 hours. The average increase across the schools is in excess of 9 hours.

In the case of County Kildare 6 schools submitted review applications and all have been completed and the 6 schools in question received an additional 55 SET hours for the school year commencing in September.

All mainstream schools were advised of their initial SNA allocations for the start of the 2024/25 school years ahead of the end of the school term.

The NCSE is responsible for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including allocation of SNA posts and reviews of same.

Any school who believes that they have insufficient SNA resources to support the care needs of their pupils can apply to the NCSE for a review of its SNA allocation.

A school that has any 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. My department does not have a role in making individual school determinations.

The NCSE manages the SNA exceptional review process and handles each case individually.

Following the outcome of the review, the SENO is available to the school to discuss the optimal deployment of SNA support within the school. NCSE in-school support is also available to schools for further guidance. Detailed information on the NCSE exceptional review process is published on the NCSE website.

My department has been working with the NCSE to streamline the review process for SNAs and the NCSE will be issuing revised guidelines on SNA reviews to schools at the start of the coming school year.

This more refined process seeks to reduce the administrative burden on schools, ensure timely reviews and develop strong relationships between schools and SENOs. All of this is with the objective of delivering the best support to children with significant care needs in our schools.

To ensure that the NCSE is fully resourced and equipped to continue to meet the current and future needs of the special education sector, the annual budget for the NCSE has been increased by 55%. This increase will allow for the provision of an additional 161 staff. The majority of these new staff will be in front-line special educational needs organiser (SENO) and advisor roles. This will ensure that parents, children and schools can be adequately supported into the future.

The processes outlined above are in place to ensure that each school has the necessary resources in mainstream to support all pupils with additional learning or care needs.