Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 17 Dec 1998

Vol. 498 No. 6

Written Answers - School Staffing.

Willie Penrose

Question:

176 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of primary schools which applied for remedial teachers in County Westmeath; the number approved for remedial teachers; the number of schools served by each remedial teacher; if he will appoint further remedial teachers to the primary schools in County Westmeath in 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28267/98]

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. Martin)

In 1998, 17 primary schools in County Westmeath applied to my Department for the services of a remedial teacher. Two of the 60 remedial teacher posts sanctioned last September were allocated to schools in County Westmeath. These posts were allocated on a shared basis to nine schools, eight of which are in Westmeath.

There are now 28 remedial teacher posts in County Westmeath catering for 61 primary schools and details of the size of clusters served by these posts are in the following table.

My priority at present is to extend the remedial service to primary schools which currently have no service. In this context, I recently announced my intention of ensuring that every primary school in the country will have access remedial service from September 1999.

I can assure the Deputy that the needs schools in County Westmeath will be addressed in this context.

Number of Remedial Posts in County Westmeath.

Number of Remedial Teaching Posts	Number of schools served in cluster
14	1
4	2
5	3
2	4
2	5
1	6
28	61