Vol. 537 No. 5
93 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Education and Science the educational services available to children suffering from attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; the number of children affected; and the funding provided in 2001 for such services. [17141/01]
Many children suffering from attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are capable of attending ordinary schools on an integrated basis with the support, where necessary, of the resource teacher and/or special needs assistant services.
In October 1998, the Government decided that all children with special needs, including children suffering from the conditions to which the Deputy refers, should henceforth be entitled to an automatic response to their needs, irrespective of their level of need or location. As a result of this development, the number of resource teachers supporting such children has grown from 104 to more than 950. The number of special needs assistants has grown from less than 300 to more than 2,000 over the same period. Additional resources of this kind are being deployed on an ongoing basis as further needs are identified.
Where the level of the disorder in question is of a more serious nature, provision is made by way of special classes in special schools or attached to ordinary primary schools. All such facilities operate at a pupil-teacher ratio of 8:1 and children attending such classes attract a special rate of capitation funding.
Precise details of the number of children affected by attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are not available to my Department.
The annual salary cost of the resource teacher service is approximately £23.75 million. The annual salary cost of the special needs assistants' service is approximately £30 million. Both resource teachers and special needs assistants can be deployed to cater for a number of children with a range of special needs, including the conditions to which the Deputy refers. It is not, therefore, possible to identify the element of overall costs that relates specifically to children with the conditions in question.
