Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 February 2017
119. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether the current directive of the INTO with respect to the Droichead scheme will have an impact on the further recruitment of resource teachers in order to implement the new resource allocation model for children with special educational needs in September 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5009/17]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that on 18 January last, I announced that a new model for allocating Special Education Teaching Resources to mainstream primary and post primary schools will be introduced from September 2017.
I also announced that an additional 900 teaching posts will be provided to support the introduction of this new allocation model.
This substantial additional provision will ensure that:
- Up to 1,000 schools will receive additional allocations, where the new model indicates additional need.
- No school will receive an allocation of resources less than the allocation they received in the 2016/17 school year.
The provision of an additional 900 teaching posts is a very significant investment in the provision of additional teaching support for pupils with special educational needs in our schools.
It is intended that a new Circular will issue to schools in the coming weeks which will set out the full details of the scheme, including the qualification and registration requirements for new Special Education Teaching posts. It is not expected that the directive of the INTO with respect to the droichead scheme will have an impact on the recruitment of teachers to implement the new resource allocation model for September 2017.
