Vol. 521 No. 4
282 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science his view on the many court cases that are being taken against his Department in regard to the adequacy of education or support services for children seeking education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17224/00]
As the Deputy may be aware children with special needs who are attending ordinary classes on a fully integrated basis may require special teaching or child care support. Arising from a Government decision of October 1998 all children with special needs within the primary system now have an automatic entitlement to the support services they require to enable them to benefit fully from the education system. The service in question may take the form of resource teacher support or child care support, or both, depending on the particular needs involved. Already, as a result of this development, my Department has allocated more than 347 additional resource teachers and more than 1,011 child care assistants to cater for children with special needs within the primary system. My Department is continuing to extend these services in response to assessed needs.
Overwhelmingly the cases to which the Deputy refers are cases involving children with disabilities or other special educational needs and arise under the provisions of the Constitution which require the State to provide for free primary education for children.
