I am not in a position at present to make child care assistant posts available to primary schools. Child care assistants are employed in special schools to assist all the pupils attending those schools. Child care assistants are not allocated to individual pupils attending such schools, as a general rule.
There are eight child care assistant posts assigned to the two special schools in County Meath. St Ultan's Special School, Navan has two child care assistant posts and St. Mary's Special School, Navan has six child care assistant posts.
My attention has been drawn to the important role which child care assistants play in assisting children with special needs attending special schools. Since my appointment, I have allocated an additional 155 child care assistants to special schools bringing the total in place to 232. One hundred child care posts were allocated to special schools with effect from September 1995. These posts were allocated on the basis of priority of need following recommendations from the Department's inspectorate and having regard to data supplied by schools.
The substantial improvements which have already been achieved in this area provide practical confirmation of my commitment to the needs of the children in question. However, I have to consider how best to deploy available resources across a wider range of special needs. I have to determine priorities and try to allocate resources to best effect.