Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 October 2015
605. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the changes that have been made in budget 2016 in regard to special education needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36448/15]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that funding for special education provision in 2016 will amount to some €1.5bn billion, which is equivalent to 17.6% of the gross overall current allocation for education and training.
As well as providing funding to meet the full year costs in 2016 of Resource Teachers appointed for the 2015/16 year, funding is also being provided to meet the cost of up to an additional 600 Resource Teachers for 2016/17.
Provision is being provided to meet the costs of Special Needs Assistants for the current school year, including in relation to the 610 additional posts which I announced earlier this year, and which are available to the National Council for Special Education to allocate to provide supports for children with special educational needs.
Children with special educational needs will also benefit from a range of other measures which were also announced as part of Budget 2016.
The 2016 Estimate for Education and Skills will provide for some 2,260 additional teaching posts next year. This includes 850 posts as a result of improvements in the staffing schedules in primary and post-primary schools and measures to strengthen school leadership, 810 additional teachers to meet demographic pressures.
The Estimate also provides additional funding to support ongoing policy initiatives including the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, Junior Cycle Reform, Schools ICT, the Music Generation Project and other curriculum change projects. Further funding is also being made available to extend book rental schemes to cover all primary schools.
