Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 9 Jun 1993

Vol. 432 No. 1

Written Answers. - Remedical Teachers.

Andrew Boylan

Question:

25 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Education the reason she has not appointed a remedial teacher to Milltown national school, Milltown, County Cavan; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that an application for this post was made to her Department five years ago; and if she will now sanction the appointment of a remedial teacher.

Minister for Education (Ms Bhreathnach)

I have now sanctioned the appointment of an additional 86 remedial teachers with effect from September 1993.

Allocation of remedial support up to now tended to focus on large urban areas, where remedial requirements were more pronounced and where the existence of large schools facilitated the provision of such support.

When allocating these new posts, I gave priority to schools which had no remedial suport at all. Among these were a large number of rural areas where there was still no remedial provision for pupils, particularly in the smaller schools.

In line with my INTO Congress address I have now rectified this situation by assigning a sizeable majority of the remedial teaching posts to the small schools and to rural schools.

Unfortunately, the school mentioned by the Deputy has not been selected on this occasion. However, I should point out that four of the new posts are being allocated to County Cavan, resulting in a further 18 schools receiving the service. As a result of this allocation, 62 per cent of pupils in County Cavan will have access to a remedial service, as compared with 41 per cent to the allocation. I will be keeping the question of further need in this area under review as part of a broader commitment to appoint additional remedial teachers. The needs of all schools, including the school mentioned by the Deputy, will be considered in this context.