Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 24 Mar 1994

Vol. 440 No. 6

Written Answers. - Primary Teaching Post Vacancies.

Eamon Gilmore

Question:

123 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Education, in view of her reply to Parliamentary Question No. 242 of 7 December 1993, the reason the 13 posts referred to in her final two paragraphs have not been fully filled; when these posts will be filled; if she will make a statement giving the reason 184 teaching posts, rather than the 200 to which she had referred, were retained; if she will give a breakdown by county of where appointments were made to the five resource teacher and ten special needs posts.

Minister for Education (Ms Bhreathnach)

I can assure the Deputy of my commitment to the deployment of all the 200 teacher posts in question to facilitate the provision of additional supports for children with special educational needs.

The selection of teachers and their assignment to these posts may be delayed for a variety of reasons. In the case of the additional three visiting teachers for Traveller children, it was necessary to identify the areas to which the posts should be assigned on a priority basis before any appointments could be made. That process has been completed and the appointments are now being offered to selected teachers.

In the case of the posts for pre-school projects, it was necessary to undertake detailed planning, including an examination of whether the projects should be linked into a broad integrated programme of measures for areas of particular disadvantage. I expect that this process will be completed shortly and that the pre-school projects will commence operation in the near future.

The breakdown by county of the distribution of the posts referred to by the Deputy is as follows:

Resource Posts

County	Number of Posts
Dublin	2
Donegal	1
Galway	1
Tipperary	1

CLASS="CP">Special Needs Posts

County	Number of Posts
Cork	2
Galway	3
Limerick	2
Sligo	1
Tipperary	2