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School Staffing.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 May 2004

Tuesday, 25 May 2004

Questions (180)

John Bruton

Question:

195 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if there is a completion date for the review of applications received between February and August 2003 for special needs assistants in primary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15629/04]

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Written answers

My Department received more than 8,400 applications for special education resources, including special needs assistant support, since 15 February 2003. The batch of approximately 5,000 applications received between 15 February and 31 August 2003 are currently being considered. Priority was given to almost 1,000 cases involving children starting school last September and all those cases were responded to on or before the commencement of the current school year.

The balance of more than 4,000 applications in that batch has been reviewed by a dedicated team comprising members of my Department's inspectorate and the National Educational Psychological Service. Those applications are being further considered in the context of the outcome of surveys of special education resource provision conducted during the past year and the data submitted by schools as part of a nationwide census of such 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.

Transitional arrangements for the introduction of the weighted system for teacher resource allocations are currently being developed in consultation with representative interests. As soon as those consultations have been completed, the detailed arrangements for responding to applications for resources, including those for special needs assistant support, will be set out in a circular to be issued to schools before the end of the current school year.

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