Vol. 478 No. 1
147 Miss M. Wallace asked the Minister for Education the current position in relation to the application which was received in her Department some time ago for the appointment of a coordinator/tutor for the Meath Training and Education Centre in Navan. [10523/97]
I am aware of the application to which the Deputy refers.
I would be hopeful that my Department will be in a position to issue an early and positive response to the application in question.
148 Miss M. Wallace asked the Minister for Education the reason there is no career guidance teacher at Longwood post-primary school, County Meath; the current plans, if any, there are to address this deficiency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10524/97]
149 Miss M. Wallace asked the Minister for Education the reason there is no resource teacher at Longwood post-primary school, County Meath; the current plans, if any, there are to address this deficiency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10525/97]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 148 and 149 together.
The allocation of ex-quota posts to second level schools in respect of guidance is determined by the enrolment in the school.
The teacher allocation for the County Meath Vocational Education Committee for the 1996-97 school year includes an allocation of 0.2 whole-time teacher equivalents in respect of guidance in Longwood post-primary school. An additional ex-quota allocation in respect of guidance for this school is not warranted at this time.
I understand that an allocation has also been made to the school in respect of pastoral care. The question of allocating further teaching resources to the school from within the overall approved teacher allocation for the vocational education committee scheme is a matter for the chief executive officer of the vocational education committee.
With regard to the question of allocating a resource post to the school, the position is that in 1995 I allocated an additional 56 resource posts to second level schools to cater for the needs of handicapped pupils. The posts were allocated on the basis of information supplied by individual schools on a specially designed application form.
It was not possible to allocate a post to Longwood post-primary school on that occasion. However, the position of the school will be considered when next it is possible to allocate additional resource posts.
