Vol. 548 No. 5
448 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Science if, in respect of the ?10 million additional moneys being provided for special needs education, he will confirm that this will apply to the provision of computers with specially adopted programmes for special needs children, or persons with a particular learning disadvantage for use at home to compliment recognised specialist teacher education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5660/02]
No final decisions have yet been taken regarding the precise areas to which the funding in question will be deployed within the special education sector. Under present arrangements my Department provides funding to meet the special equipment needs, including computer needs, of students with disabilities in schools. The funding is allocated to school authorities to purchase the relevant equipment for use by the pupils concerned. Grants for the purchase of special equipment are based on the professionally assessed needs of the individual pupils concerned. A sum of £1.9 million was allocated at primary level in the last year to support the purchase of specialised equipment, including computer packages. In addition, schools with special classes receive a special needs grant of €95.23 per pupil in respect of all pupils in special classes for ICT requirements in these classes. This is additional to a basic grant of €1,904.61 plus €19 per pupil for ICT requirements paid to all primary schools.
Special schools receive a basic grant of €1,904.61 plus €19 per pupil for the ICT requirements of the school. In addition, special schools receive a special needs grant of €95.23 per pupil for the ICT requirements of the school. Resource teachers and learning support teachers in primary schools receive a grant of €634.87 to meet the ICT requirements of pupils catered for by these teachers. Second level schools receive a basic grant of €1,904.61 plus €19 per pupil for the ICT requirements of the school. Resource teachers and learning support teachers at second level receive a grant of €952.30 per allocated whole-time equivalent post paid proportionate to the whole time equivalent allocation per school. Provision in this area is kept under ongoing review to ensure that the specialised equipment needs of students with disabilities are met.
449 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if his legal obligation under the Education Act, 1998, to provide appropriate education to children includes an obligation to provide speech therapy services where appropriate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5661/02]
Responsibility for the provision of services to persons with an intellectual disability and those with autism in the Dublin area is a matter for the Eastern Regional Health Authority. Additional funding has been made available annually in recent years to the health boards, including the Eastern Regional Health Authority, in respect of the provision of health related support services for children with an intellectual disability and those with autism. However many health boards and specialist service providers have been experiencing difficulties in recruiting allied health professionals and specifically speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and psychologists. This is due primarily to the general shortage of available staff in these grades nationally. Health boards and agencies have been and are continuing to undertake intensive recruitment drives at home and abroad. My Department has asked the health boards and the Eastern Regional Health Authority to explore other approaches which might result in the maintenance of an existing level of service provision or an enhancement in line with agreed service developments using the resources allocated to the services. My Department is also undertaking a number of short, medium and longer term measures to increase the availability of trained staff in these areas.
I understand from the South-Western Area Health Board, which provides services for children with autism on behalf of the authority, that where speech and language therapy services cannot be provided directly by the board, arrangements are in place to provide a grant to the schools in which the special classes for children with autism are located to assist in enabling the children to access these services.
My Department has asked the regional chief executive of the authority to investigate the matter raised by the Deputy and reply to him directly.
