Vol. 566 No. 5
81 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Education and Science his plans to ensure that special needs assistants who are appointed to infant classes are accorded the same status as special needs assistants appointed to all other classes in a school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13252/03]
Children in infant classes attend school for a reduced daily period. Accordingly, the level of special needs assistant support they require is correspondingly reduced and is met through the allocation of part-time hours support. The duration of the service provided is based on the professionally-assessed needs of the individual children involved.
Part-time special needs assistants are contracted to deliver a specified number of hours service per week in the schools in which they are employed and are paid at an hourly rate. The terms and conditions of employment for all special needs assistants is currently under review within my Department and, when the issues have been finalised, my Department will ensure that guidelines are issued to schools on the matter.
82 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Education and Science if his Department will extend the secondment of a person (details supplied) in County Offaly for another year to continue work with special needs education; if so, when this extension of secondment will be confirmed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13253/03]
My Department initially approved the secondment of the person in question for the 2000-01 school year to facilitate the development of an information manual, which has since been produced. Subsequently, my Department agreed to extend the secondment for a further two years until the end of the 2002-03 school year to allow that person to work on promoting the manual and building links between teachers catering for children with special needs and the health service providers involved in this area. The extended period of secondment will conclude at the end of the current school year and my Department has advised the parties involved that a further extension will not be approved. In arriving at this decision, account has been taken of the imminent commencement of recruitment of staff to the National Council for Special Education. Among its duties, the council will undertake work of a similar nature on a national basis.
