Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 7 Jun 2000

Vol. 163 No. 14

Adjournment Matters. - School Staffing.

Mr. Costello

I welcome the Minister of State. There may be some confusion as to the actual matter on the Adjournment, but the issue is that there has been a problem with the absence of a speech teacher in this school. It seems difficult to understand how deaf students can receive a decent education – all students are entitled to as full an education as they can get – if they do not have the services of a speech teacher. It is difficult to contemplate how a situation has arisen where no speech teacher has been appointed to the school.

The issue is simple. Will a speech teacher be appointed? There are also no Irish sign language teachers in both primary schools for the deaf in the Cabra area. We are talking about the hard of hearing and the profoundly deaf, but the same principle applies – education cannot be imparted to these young people unless there is both a sign language teacher and a speech teacher for those who are hard of hearing. I will be very interested in the Minister of State's response.

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science (Mr. O'Dea)

Speech therapy services are the responsibility of the relevant health authorities. However, I assure the Senator of the Department of Education and Science's commitment to ensure that all schools catering for children with special needs, including St. Mary's school for deaf girls, receive the level of services they require. St. Mary's is a special school which caters for pupils, both at primary and post-primary level, with hearing impairment. The pupil-teacher ratio applicable to the school is 7:1, as is recommended by the Special Education Review Committee.

I am pleased to inform the Senator that the staffing levels in this school are well within quota. There are currently 146 pupils enrolled in the school, 50 at primary level and 96 at post-primary level. The school has a principal and 39 teachers, 12 primary teachers and 27 post-primary teachers. The school also has five special needs assistant posts which have been allocated by the Department of Education and Science. The deployment of the teaching staff in any school is a matter for the board of management of the school. I understand that a primary school teacher has been deployed by the board of management of St. Mary's to cater for the speech needs of pupils in the primary section of the school.

The Department of Education and Science has also sanctioned 11 hours part-time teaching to the school to support speech teaching. This support is also deployed by the school management in the primary section of the school. The Minister has asked his Department's inspectorate to review the staffing arrangements in the school and to consult with the school management with regard to the need to deploy a teacher at post-primary level to provide speech teaching support. He has also asked his officials to raise the issue of speech therapy support for the school with the Eastern Regional Health Authority.

The Seanad adjourned at 8.35 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 8 June 2000.