asked the Minister for Education if she intends to provide a special school for children with impaired hearing at Tralee, County Kerry.
Written Answers. - Tralee Special School.
33.
An extensive investigation of the needs of the hearing impaired children in the general area of Tralee, recently completed by my Department's inspectors, has established that there are some pupils who might benefit from a facility attached to an ordinary school in that town. However, it would be in the best educational interests of some of the other children concerned if they were to attend a special school for pupils with hearing impairment.
Following careful examination of the matter it is considered that because of wide variations in age, degree of hearing loss, level of language development and intellectual functioning the children in question do not form a homogeneous group which would be essential to make a local facility viable. In the circumstances, the establishment of such a facility would not appear feasible at present.