Vol. 497 No. 2
416 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Education and Science if a person (details supplied) in County Cork who is sanctioned a personal assistant up to Christmas 1998 will continue to have this facility made available to her after Christmas. [24820/98]
I am aware of the case to which the Deputy refers.
I recently announced a major new initiative in the special education area under which all children assessed as having special educational needs will be entitled to an automatic response to those needs. The level and nature of the response in each case will depend on the assessed needs of the child or group of children involved. The response may take take the form of full or part-time teacher support or child care support, depending on the number of children involved and the nature of their needs.
Applications for child care support, including the case mentioned by the Deputy, are currently being considered by my Department in the context of this new development in special needs provision. I am confident that an early and positive response will issue in this case.
