Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 October 2013
60. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he is satisfied that the resource teaching hours for special needs students in 2013-14 will be adequate to meet demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42411/13]
View answerIn June, I authorised the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, to maintain the level of resource teaching allocations to be provided for students with special educational needs at 2012-13 levels. There has not been a reduction in resource teaching time for these pupils for the current school year.
The NCSE has advised me that the number of additional posts required to meet the requirement for the remainder of this year is just under 500. I am committed to making available the additional resources required to provide for these allocations so that the needs of qualifying children are met. The implications of this for my Department's employment control framework and Vote have been raised with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and will also be addressed in the forthcoming process in formulating budget 2014.
I am not in a position at this time to anticipate future budgetary decisions. All of these issues will need to be considered as part of the normal budgetary and Estimates process for 2014 and beyond.
I thank the Minister for his response. Earlier this year, the approach to resource teaching hours was a matter of serious concern, as each child who had been in receipt of hours last year was to experience a reduction from 0.9 of an allocation to 0.85. The Minister's reversal of this decision was welcome. In doing so, he allocated additional teachers by bringing forward those who had been held back to meet the autumn demand that would arise from a new in-take of students and new diagnoses of needs.
I welcome the Minister's indication that he will ensure the need is met this autumn. Can the Minister give a figure on how many students are involved? How many new applications were made before the end of September for resource teaching hours? When will they get that allocation? Are they being allocated the additional required hours now or are they waiting for the Minister to allocate extra money to provide for that?
On 25 June, I announced that I would authorise the NCSE to make allocations at the same level for 2013 as before, which is 0.85. Consequently, there has not been a reduction in resource teaching time for pupils with special educational needs over last year's allocation.
The NCSE published details of all its initial allocations for resource teaching and SNA support for the 2013-14 school year in June this year. The data are now available on the NCSE's website detailing allocations made for each school on a per county basis.
The NCSE allocated 5,284 whole-time equivalent resource teaching posts to schools in June. In order to meet any late demand for resource teaching support arising from 15 March 2013 and the start of the school year, the NCSE requested all schools to submit outstanding applications for resource teaching support to the council by 20 September this year. The NCSE is currently processing these applications. The NCSE has estimated that some 480 additional resource teaching posts are likely to be required to meet the demand in respect of valid applications received up to 20 September 2013. That is the figure specifically sought by the Deputy.
The previous closing date was 20 March, while 20 September was the closing date for demand that has arisen in the meantime. The NCSE has told the Minister that just under 500 teachers will be required to meet that demand. Those children currently have a need for resource teaching support which has been applied for. They have been identified as having that need. Are those teachers currently being allocated to those students, must they await an additional budgetary allocation from the Minister, or must the Minister give the go-ahead for the recruitment and employment of teachers to meet that need?
I do not wish to mislead the House, but I am not entirely sure that I have all the information in my brief for the Deputy. I will provide an explicit written response for the Deputy concerning the questions he has just asked, and I will copy it to Deputy O'Brien as well.
Go raibh maith agat.
