Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 29 Nov 1995

Vol. 459 No. 1

Written Answers. - Grant Payments.

Éamon Ó Cuív

Question:

86 Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education the reason the special grant payable to remedial resource teachers for remedial materials, copying and other facilities has not been paid for the school year 1995-96; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17952/95]

Éamon Ó Cuív

Question:

87 Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education if she considers that the grant of £200 per annum paid to remedial resource teachers for special remedial materials, copying and other facilities is adequate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17953/95]

Éamon Ó Cuív

Question:

88 Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education the reason the special grant payable to remedial resource teachers for remedial materials, copying and other facilities is paid to the principal of the base school rather than directly to the resource teacher; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17954/95]

Minister for Education (Ms Bhreathnach)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 86, 87 and 88 together.

Grants for remedial and resource teachers are paid to schools in December of each year. Grants in respect of the 1995-96 school year will issue to schools in the coming weeks.

Each remedial and resource teacher post attracts an initial start-up grant of £400. This is supplemented by an annual top-up grant of £200 to fund the replacement of equipment used through the course of the school year. The grants in question were increased by 60 per cent in 1994. The initial start-up grant was increased from £250 to £400 and the annual grant from £125 to £200. In the context of the many competing demands for extra resources in the special needs area, I am satisfied that the increases referred to constitute a significant response to the needs of the teachers in question.

I will continue to review the level of grant provided to remedial and resource teachers in the context of overall resource availability.

The decision to pay grants directly to the base school has been taken to facilitate the efficient operation of the payment process. While the base schools involved will rarely change, the identity of individual post holders can change quite frequently due to the resignation, retirement or redeployment of the individual teachers involved.