Vol. 432 No. 1
224 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Education the reason a remedial teacher has not, as yet, been appointed to Louth and Stonestown national schools, County Louth; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that these schools are the only schools in the parish area without a remedial teacher; if she will review the application made over two years ago; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
The approval of further remedial posts in a particular year is governed by the teaching resources available in that year. An additional 86 remedial teachers are being appointed with effect from September 1993. Decisions have now been taken on the allocation of these posts and the schools selected will be notified shortly.
These appointments are being made on the basis of priority of need, following the collection of data from schools by my Department's Primary Inspectorate.
Unfortunately, the schools mentioned by the Deputy have not been selected on this occasion. However, I should point out that three of the new posts are being allocated to County Louth, resulting in a further 11 schools receiving the service. As a result of this allocation, 91 per cent of pupils in County Louth will have access to a remedial service.
I will be keeping the question of further need in this area under review as part of a broader commitment to appoint 500 additional remedial teachers by September, 1996. The needs of all schools, including the school mentioned by the Deputy, will be considered in this context.
