28 June 2011

Parliamentary Questions

• Job security for SNA
• Number of SNAs in Donegal
• Current situation regarding SNAs
• Training of SENOs and if SENOs can overrule a recommendation by a psychologist
• If SNAs are designated to a pupil or groups of pupils
• Assistance with transport costs for carers
• Views on independent living

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS

• Job security for SNA

Deputy Dara Calleary (FF): asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will advise of the panel rights of special needs assistants and the level of job security an SNA may expect after three or four years service.

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn):  Firstly, I wish to clarify for the Deputy that Special Needs Assistant (SNA) allocations are not permanent, as the level of SNA support allocated to a school may be increased or decreased as pupils who qualify for SNA support enrol or leave a school. They are also decreased where a child’s care needs may have diminished over time. There is therefore no panel system in place for SNAs. A Special Needs Assistant whose post is surplus to the approved allocation to the school may be entitled to a redundancy payment under the terms of circular 58/2006 - titled Redundancy Arrangements for Special Need Assistants. Support to SNAs who may have been made redundant is provided for within the terms of this scheme. The recruitment and deployment of SNAs within schools are matters for the individual Principal/Board of Management. The Board is the SNA’s employer and the terms of employment are subject to the conditions of the contract of employment. The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating resource teachers and SNAs to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department’s criteria in allocating such support, which now includes a requirement for the NCSE to have regard to an overall cap on the number of SNA posts. The NCSE has issued a circular to all schools advising of the allocation process for SNA support for the 2011/2012 school year. A key feature of the amended scheme will be to provide for an annual allocation of SNA support to eligible schools. The NCSE asked schools to submit all applications for SNA support to them by 18th March, 2011 and are currently in the process of informing schools of their annual SNA allocation for the coming school year. 

• Number of SNAs in Donegal

Deputy Seán Crowe (SF): asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of special needs assistants employed in County Donegal.

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn):  The information requested by the Deputy on the number of special needs assistants employed in County Donegal is not readily available. The number of Special Needs Assistants employed nationally from 2007 to 2010 is available in the document below. The details for each year are the December figures for the year in question. The primary schools information is inclusive of the special schools details. The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for allocating special needs resources to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department’s criteria in allocating such support. The NCSE will continue to support schools, parents, children and teachers and special needs assistants will continue to be deployed to schools to meet children’s needs in line with my Department’s policy.

Number of Special Needs Assistants

• Current situation regarding SNAs

Deputy Finian McGrath (I): asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will clarify the current situation regarding special needs assistants.

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn):  I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department’s criteria in allocating such support. This now includes a requirement for the NCSE to have regard to an overall cap on the number of SNA posts. This number is 10,575 whole time equivalent (WTE) posts. This is a significant number of posts and unlike other areas of the public sector vacancies are being filled up to this number. It also represents continual increases in the number of SNAs over recent years.It is considered that with equitable and careful management and distribution of these resources that there should be sufficient posts to provide access to SNA support for all children who require such care support to attend school, in accordance with Departmental criteria. The NCSE has issued a circular to all schools advising of the allocation process for the 2011/2012 school year. A key feature of the amended scheme will be to provide for an annual allocation of Special Needs Assistant support to eligible schools. The NCSE asked schools to submit all applications for SNA support to them by 18th March, 2011 and intend to inform schools of their annual SNA allocation as soon as possible, in advance of the coming school year. 

• Training of SENOs and if SENOs can overrule a recommendation by a psychologist

Deputy Seán Crowe (SF): asked the Minister for Education and Skills the training in the assessment of children with special needs that special education needs officers have received to enable them to determine if a post-primary pupil requires a special needs assistant; the training in the evaluation and appraisal of post-primary teacher’s classroom management skills and practice that special education needs officers, SENOs, have received; the circumstances in which a special education needs officers may over-rule a specific and explicit recommendation by a consultant child psychiatrist that a pupil being treated by him should have access to a special needs assistant.

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn): I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which was established under the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act, 2004 (EPSEN Act) has responsibility for processing resource applications for children with disabilities who have special educational needs through its regional Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs). The NCSE also responsibility for planning and co-ordinating the provision of education and support services for students with special educational needs, in accordance with DES policy. The NCSE operates within my Department’s criteria in allocating supports which now includes a requirement for the NCSE to have regard to an overall cap on the number of SNA posts. The responsibility for deciding on the quantum of educational resources to be allocated to pupils with special educational needs resides with the NCSE through the SENO. The consideration of professional reports is an integral part of determining the extent of supports to be provided for pupils with special educational needs. The NCSE has outlined the processes involved in the consideration of applications for special needs supports in its Circular 01/05 which is available on www.ncse.ie. The co-operation and co-ordination of the education and health sectors is critical in the planning and delivery of services to children with special educational needs. The NCSE circular 03/08, which is also available on www.ncse.ie, clarifies the respective roles and functions of the NCSE and the HSE and their respective personnel in carrying out assessments of and sanctioning resources to support children with special educational needs. 

• If SNAs are designated to a pupil or groups of pupils

Deputy Seán Crowe (SF): asked the Minister for Education and Skills if special needs assistants are specifically designated for the assistance of named pupils or may a school deploy them across a group of students.

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn):  I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department’s criteria in allocating such support. This now includes a requirement for the NCSE to have regard to an overall cap on the number of SNA posts.The qualifying criteria for the allocation of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support is outlined in my Department’s Circular 07/02. The recruitment and deployment of SNAs within schools are matters for the individual Principal/Board of Management. 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. 

• Assistance with transport costs for carers

Deputy Gerry Adams (SF): asked the Minister for Social Protection the financial assistance available to a carer of a person with a mental disability who provides transport for that person on an ongoing basis; his views that the provision of private transport is essential for those suffering from a mental disability as public transport is not an option for various reasons such as safety and availability and that this provision by the carer adds a financial burden to them which is causing severe hardship;

Minister for Social Protection (Deputy Joan Burton) (Deputy Joan Burton): My Department provides the carer’s allowance and carer’s benefit schemes for people who are providing full time care and attention to a person in need of such care. These payments are an income support for the carers while they are engaged in caring duties. They are not intended to cover the cost of the individual care needs of the person being cared for. In the majority of cases this person will be in receipt of a social welfare payment in his/her own right (e.g. State pension or disability allowance) and the additional supports required are available from the Health Services Executive. This may include assistance with transport costs in certain circumstances. The Revenue Commissioners’ disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme provides a range of tax reliefs for the purchase and use of vehicles by disabled drivers and disabled passengers. A family member of the disabled person can qualify for relief if he or she is living with and responsible for the transport of the disabled person in question and has acquired a vehicle for that purpose. My Department also provides free travel to people aged 66 years or over, carers in receipt of carer’s allowance and carers of people in receipt of constant attendance or prescribed relative’s allowance, regardless of their age. It is also available to people under age 66 who are in receipt of certain disability type welfare payments, such as disability allowance, invalidity pension and blind person’s pension. I have no plans to provide for transport costs outside of this scheme. 

• Views on independent living

Deputy Finian McGrath (I): asked the Minister for Health his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding the Personal Assistance Act; his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding independent living;

Deputy Kathleen Lynch: The correspondence supplied by the Deputy is seeking his personal views and understanding on independent living for people with disabilities. However, the Government’s central policy objective for people with disabilities is that people should be supported “to lead full and independent lives, to participate in work and society and to maximise their potential”. In line with this policy, the Government’s Programme for National Recovery 2011 – 2016 contains a commitment to “ensure that the quality of life for people with disabilities is enhanced and that resources allocated reach the people who need them”.

Research, both international and national, confirms that the needs of people with a disability are most appropriately met and provided in their home and community and that this provides a more sustainable model for the provision of care. The Government’s commitment to people with disabilities is one whereby the focus of any supports should be based on individual need as much as possible and, while there is no “one size fits all” solution, the focus of supports should favour the individual rather than an organisation or service provider. A review of the efficiency and effectiveness of disability services funded from the Health Vote is currently underway and will be completed later this year. As part of this review an Expert Reference Group was established to review current policy in relation to disability services. Although it is important not to pre-empt any recommendation that may arise out of this process, a key theme emerging is the need for a shift in funding from organisations to individuals. This might or might not involve the transfer of actual funds to the individual. While direct payment may be considered in the future, a shorter term goal would be the transfer to the individual of choice and control over support and care decisions through the mechanism of individualised budgeting. On 3rd December 2010 the Department published, on its website, a summary of the key proposals emerging from the review of disability policy. It proposes a re-framing of disability services towards a model of individualised supports and the main-streaming of all public services. State funding would be allocated based on an independent assessment of individual needs. Following the needs assessment, individual support plans would be drawn up and individualised budgets allocated from which the supports and services needed would be purchased. I understand that the Health Service Executive is supporting a direct payments model for two people with a disability in the Cavan Monaghan area. In addition my Department through the Genio Trust is supporting a new innovative initiative for five individuals to manage and direct their personal assistant supports by receiving direct payments to purchase the supports they decide they need. The evaluation of this initiative will inform the implementation of the policy proposals currently being developed. While the focus is on the shift in funding from organisations to individuals, individualised funding and direct payments are not one and the same. With direct payments the transfer involves the actual direct payment of cash to the service user. With individualised funding, the main transfer of resources to the service user is the transfer of some control over decisions. This might or might not involve the transfer of actual funds to the individual. While there may potentially be some form of direct payment in the future, the more significant change is likely to be the transfer of control and choice. Therefore it is not proposed to introduce a personal assistance act at this stage.

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