'The commitment of government' The state introduces 115 special needs assistants

As of next month, a further 115 special needs assistants will become available in schools throughout the State.

As it stands, there are currently 13,015 SNAs working in Ireland, and the boost in figures is, according to Ena Kenny, indicative of the government's desire to assist our country's young people.

"We now have more special needs assistants than we have members of the Gardaí, or indeed doctors," Mr Kenny said.

"If you like, it shows you the commitment of government to giving every child who has a particular assessed challenge or difficulty an opportunity to benefit from that," he added.

Education Minister Richard Bruton provided the public with an insight into development on the part of the National Council for Special Education.

"The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) have advised me that they are making significant progress on their comprehensive assessment of the SNA scheme, aimed at providing better outcomes for students and maximising the impact of the State’s investment and I have asked the NCSE to provide me with regular updates."

It has been established that the State currently spends €429 million on special needs educators.