Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 April 2004
213 Mr. Carey asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will consider the appointment of a full-time resource teacher to a school (details supplied) in County Roscommon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10445/04]
View answerThe school referred to by the Deputy has the services of a full-time resource teacher and part-time resource teaching hours together with a shared learning support teacher. My Department has received applications for additional special educational resources from the school in question. SER applications received between 15 February and 31 August 2003, including those made by this school, are being considered. In all, 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 on 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, issued in September, 2003. This circular contains practical advice on how to achieve the most effective deployment of resources already allocated for special educational needs within the school.
My Department is reviewing existing arrangements for the allocation of special educational supports to primary schools. In that context, my officials have initiated discussions on the matter with representative interests. At this stage, it would be premature to anticipate the outcome. I can confirm, however that the basic purpose of that review is to ensure that each school has the level of resources required to cater for its pupils with special educational needs.
