Vol. 547 No. 1
1094 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Education and Science the hours during which the special education section of his Department may be contacted by telephone; the reason these hours do not coincide with the working hours of teachers who may need to contact the section; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1083/02]
Under arrangements recently introduced, telephone lines to the special education section of my Department will remain open all day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Access to the section is restricted on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These arrangements have been introduced on a temporary basis to enable the section to process the large volume of applications for support which are currently on hand. The arrangements are being monitored on an ongoing basis. These arrangements are necessary so that children for whom special services have already been requested will receive a speedy response to their special needs.
The Government's decision to immediately meet the assessed needs of children with special needs, to increase the number of resource teachers assisting children with special needs from 104 to more than 1,000 and the number of special needs assistants from less than 300 to over 2,800 has greatly increased the demand. This is making up for the lack of investment over many years. Further such resources are being allocated daily in response to assessed needs. The measures outlined above are intended to facilitate this process.
