Vol. 437 No. 3
117 Mr. Killeen asked the Minister for Education the number of new remedial education posts which will be created by her Department in primary schools in County Clare in 1994; and the criteria which will be employed in allocating these posts.
As the Deputy may be aware, the Programme for a Partnership Government made a specific commitment to the appointment of a substantial number of additional remedial teachers by September 1996. As part of this commitment I approved the appointment of an additional 86 remedial teachers in the current school year, bringing the total now in place to 1,033.
No decision has been made regarding the number of remedial appointments in 1994. However, I anticipate that current demographic trends will give me further opportunities to address the position of special needs pupils in 1994 and I am currently considering ways of using these trends to best advantage in areas such as remedial teaching.
Remedial posts are allocated on the basis of priority of need, following the collection of data from schools by my Department's inspectorate. I will be keeping the question of further need in this area under review. The needs of all schools, including schools in County Clare, will be considered in the context of this development.
