Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 May 2004
131 Mr. N. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will arrange to appoint a special needs assistant for a person (details supplied) in County Cork due to commence their education in September 2004 and who will require a one on one assistant. [13103/04]
View answerMy Department received an application on 24 March 2004 for special educational resources, SER, for the pupil referred to by the Deputy. SER applications received between 15 February and 31 August 2003 are being considered at present. 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 and the data submitted by schools as part of a 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 already allocated for special educational needs within the school.
It is intended that all schools, which applied for additional posts, including applications for next September, will be notified of the outcome before the end of the current school year.
