Vol. 489 No. 1
19 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of additional special needs assistant posts and additional teaching posts he will provide in the 1998-99 school year in order to meet the recommended ratios in the Special Education Review Committee report. [7468/98]
It is estimated by my Department that approximately 300 additional special needs assistant posts would be required to fully meet the recommended ratios set out in the report of the Special Education Review Committee. At present, my Department is funding a total of 272 such posts at an annual cost of £2.75 million. This includes 20 posts which I allocated shortly after my appointment as Minister for Education and Science.
It is estimated by my Department that a maximum of approximatley 70 additional teacher posts would be required to fully achieve the pupil-teacher ratios recommended by the review committee. The recommended pupil-teacher ratios have already been achieved in eight of the 12 categories recommended for improvement by the committee.
My capacity to allocate additional teaching and special needs assistant posts in any year is dependent on resource availability and the level of competing demand across the special needs area. I have to establish priorities and deploy resources to best effect. As far as the current school year is concerned, decisions regarding the allocation of available resources had already been taken by my predecessor before she left office.
I assure the House that I am fully aware of the work that remains to be done to achieve the range of ratios recommended by the Special Education Review Committee. I am fully committed to this task.
At present, I am reviewing provision across the special needs area to ensure that all available resources are deployed as effectively as possible. The issues raised by the Deputy will form a key part of this review.
