Vol. 489 No. 1
72 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science the extent to which remedial teachers and other backup facilities are available throughout the country; whether it is proposed to extend or enhance this coverage in 1998; if so, to what extent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7512/98]
The remedial teaching service is one of a range of services provided for children with special needs who are attending school on a fully integrated basis. Such children may also have access to the resource teacher service or the visiting teacher service.
A total of 1,242 remedial teachers are currently in place in primary schools. At second level, a total of 350 ex-quota remedial teachers are in place. A total of 78 resource teachers are currently in place in primary schools. At second level, a total of 147 ex-quota resource teachers are in place.
The visiting teacher service provides back-up support for children with certain disabilities attending both primary and second level schools. A total of 42 visiting teachers are involved in providing this service. My capacity to allocate additional resources to these services 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 available 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 in March 1997 before she left office. I am currently reviewing provision across the special needs area to ensure that all available resources are deployed as effectively as possible for the 1998-99 school year. The issues mentioned by the Deputy will be considered as a key part of this review.
