Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2004
333 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to concerns regarding the appointment of a principal to the Patrician High School, Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, and questions raised as to the eligibility of the appointed candidate; if he will clarify the criteria as outlined in circular 4/98; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5008/04]
View answerTeaching service for the purpose of post-primary circular 4/98 is that which has been duly certified as service that was given in a state-recognised school either in this State or abroad; was satisfactory whole, full-time teaching service and for which the teacher was fully qualified at the time and was remunerated. It is a matter for a school authority to confirm the veracity of information presented to it for the purpose of a proposed appointment and my Department, in so far as it can, provides assistance to schools in meeting their obligations in this regard. In the case of the recent appointment of a principal by the board of management of Patrician High School, Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, it has been confirmed to the board that duly certified documents in the records of my Department show that the appointee has in excess of the requisite number of years, five, of wholetime teaching service required of a candidate for appointment as a principal.
334 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will approve a resource teacher for a person (details supplied) in County Roscommon in light of an educational psychological report; the reason for the delay in processing the application; when a decision will be made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5047/04]
View answerThe school referred to by the Deputy has the services of two shared full-time resource teachers, together with a shared learning support teacher. I can confirm also that my Department has received an application for special educational resources, SER, in respect of the child referred to by the Deputy. SER applications received between 15 February and 31 August 2003 are being considered. More than 5,000 such applications were received. Priority was given to cases involving children starting school last September and all these cases were responded to at or before the commencement of the current school year. The balance of more than 4,000 applications has been reviewed by a dedicated team comprising members of my Department's inspectorate and the National Educational Psychological Service. These applications are being further considered in the context of the outcome of surveys of SER provision conducted over the past year or so. Account is also being taken of the data submitted by schools as part of the recent nationwide census of SER provision.
The processing of the applications is a complex and time-consuming operation. However, my Department is endeavouring to have this completed as quickly as possible and my officials will then respond to all applicant schools. Pending a response, schools are advised to refer to circular 24/03 which issued in September 2003. This circular contains practical advice on how to achieve the most effective deployment of resources allocated for special educational needs within the school.
The arrangements for processing applications received after 31 August 2003, including the one referred to by the Deputy, will be considered in the context of the outcome of discussions on a weighted system of allocation of resource teaching support. A further communication will be sent to schools in this regard.
