Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 8 Dec 1998

Vol. 498 No. 1

Written Answers. - Special Educational Needs.

Alan M. Dukes

Question:

385 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will provide funding for the employment of a classroom assistant at Kildangan national school, County Kildare, in order that a child who suffers from Down's Syndrome can obtain a proper education in view of the fact that the person in question has been working with the child for the past two years and the school has tried without success to employ a replacement classroom assistant under the community employment scheme. [26666/98]

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. Martin)

I recently announced a major initiative in the special education area under which all children assessed as having special care needs arising from a disability 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 the form of full or part-time teaching or child care support, or both, depending on the number of children involved and the nature of their needs.

The school in question is one of a number of schools which have applied to my Department for child care assistant support. All such applications are now being considered in the context of this new arrangement and I would expect that additional allocations of child care assistant support will commence shortly and continue through 1999.