Vol. 513 No. 6
87 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Education and Science if he has satisfied himself that all children whose need for and rights to special provision in education have been vindicated by the courts are currently receiving educational services as were envisaged in the decision of the courts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3174/00]
The court decisions referred to by the Deputy relate to cases taken by parents on behalf of children with significant special needs and, in particular, children with autism and severeprofound learning disabilities. I can assure the Deputy that my Department takes very seriously its obligations as set down by the High Court and all decisions of the court are fully implemented. Provision which has been put in place for each child is regularly reviewed in order to ensure that it is working in the interests of the child and to the satisfaction of all concerned. In addition my Department, through a range of measures which I would like to outline, takes pro-active steps to ensure that the rights of children to education are provided for and that parents are not required to take legal action to achieve an appropriate level of education for their children. I am pleased to be able to inform the Deputy that the High Court has recently expressed its appreciation of the actions of my Department in this area.
In November 1998, the Government agreed a major new initiative under which all children within the primary system assessed as having special educational needs arising from disabilities are now entitled to an automatic response to those needs. 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 level of their special needs. Already, as a result of this initiative, my Department has allocated an additional 225 resource teachers and 638 special needs assistants to cater specifically for children with special needs. The process of deploying the necessary resources to meet the needs of all such children is continuing.
