Vol. 529 No. 3
46 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Education and Science if arrangements are in place for the appointment of special needs assistants in all special classes as required throughout the primary school system; the number of claims for special needs assistants received by his Department in the past 12 months; the numbers which have been approved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2711/01]
Special needs assistant support is allocated to schools on the basis of the level of such support recommended by the special education review committee. My Department is currently in the process of ensuring that all special schools and schools with special classes receive the level of special needs assistant support recommended by the review committee.
Additional special needs assistant support is made available where the particular needs of individual children require such a response.
Precise details of the number of claims for special needs assistant support received in my Department in the past twelve months are not readily available and would require an inordinate amount of time to compile. However, I can confirm that in the year 2000 my Department sanctioned the appointment of an additional 692 full-time equivalent special needs assistant posts in the primary system. This represents a 74% increase in the level of special needs assistant support in the system during the year 2000. The total number of special needs assistants in the primary system had reached 1,629 by the end of year 2000.
My Department is continuing to allocate additional special needs assistant support to schools in response to assessed needs.
