Vol. 472 No. 7
96 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Education whether she will have arrangements made for the appointment of a teacher of special education in the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24029/96]
I am not in a position at present to provide a special teacher post to the area in question. Ten resource teacher posts were recently allocated by my Department to schools in the primary sector. The role of the resource teacher is to assist ordinary teaching staff in meeting the special needs of children with disabilities attending primary schools on an integrated basis.
The posts in question were allocated on the basis of priority of need following the collection and analysis of data from primary schools by my Department's inspectorate. The needs of schools in the area in question were considered as part of this process. Unfortunately, the schools in question were not successful on this occasion.
The needs of schools in the Dingle Peninsula area will be considered in the context of any future allocation of such posts.
