Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 April 2004
357 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason the provision of a resource teacher has been denied to a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath despite the fact that an application has been approved by his Department; when this person will have the benefit of a resource teacher; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11477/04]
View answer359 Mr. P. McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Science if an application was received from a school in relation to a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath for special needs resources; the date on which this application was received; if it has been acknowledged; and when it is expected that additional resources will be provided to this school to enable it to help this person reach their potential. [11490/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 357 and 359 together.
I can confirm that my Department received an application for special educational needs — SEN — supports for the pupil referred to by the Deputies.
SER applications received between 15 February and 31 August 2003, including the one made by this school, are being considered at present. 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 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, NEPS. 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 nationwide census of SER provision.
I can confirm that my Department is at present reviewing existing arrangements for the allocation of special educational supports to primary schools. In that context, my officials have been involved in on-going discussions on a weighted system of allocation of resource teaching support with representative interests. At this stage, it would be premature to anticipate the outcome for the school referred to by the Deputies. However, the basic purpose of the new system is to ensure that each school has the level of resources required to cater for its pupils with special educational needs.
This process 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 already allocated for special educational needs within the school.
