Vol. 478 No. 4
132 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education if she will allocate a classroom assistant to a school in County Cork for three pupils (details supplied) with special needs on whose behalf an application has been made; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11160/97]
When child care assistant posts become available, they are allocated on the basis of priority of need. To-date, any such allocations have been targeted on special schools and special classes catering for groups of children with disabilities.
Since becoming Minister for Education, I have allocated a total of 175 child care assistant posts to special schools and special classes. This brings the total number of child care assistants now in place in the special education are to 252.
I will continue to review needs in this area and consider how best those needs can be met within available resources. The needs of all primary schools will be considered in this context.
