Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 22 Feb 1995

Vol. 449 No. 5

Adjournment Debate. - Remedial Teacher Appointment.

Mr. M. Brennan

Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment.

I wish to raise the urgent need for a remedial teacher in six national schools, four of which are in south Sligo and two are in County Mayo. The schools are Drimina, Banada, Kilmactigue, Castlerock, Killasser and Carramore. The first four are in the parish of Kilmactigue in Sligo and the last two are in the parish of Killasser, County Mayo. Three of the schools, Castlerock, Killasser and Carramore are on the side of the Ox Mountains and are, therefore, remote and in a disadvantaged area. The parish of Kilmactigue is on the border of County Mayo. Those schools are under the supervision of two Department inspectors, one in Sligo and one in Mayo. However, until recently all six schools were under the supervision of an inspector living in Castlebar in County Mayo.

The total number of pupils in the six schools is 295 and of those 51 are in need of remedial teaching, a figure which is much higher than the national average. In one school ten children are in urgent need of remedial help, two of those children were mute at the age of five. In another school nine out of a total of 23 children need remedial attention.

The North Western Health Board is providing assistance for two children of one family by its flexible use of the day fostering facility allowance. However, that is not adequate to meet the needs of those children and one child requires speech therapy. The social worker involved in this case informed me that those children are in urgent need of remedial attention and this can only be properly addressed through the skills of a remedial teacher. Those are the needs of one family, but a total of 51 children need remedial attention and the majority urgently require remedial teaching skills.

I note from the Official Report of 7 February 1995 that Banada national school is one of those listed as due to lose a teacher in September 1995. The need for the appointment of a remedial teacher is very great. I urge the Minister for Defence and for the Marine, Deputy Coveney, to ask the Minister for Education, or her Minister of State, to redeploy this teacher from Banada national school as a remedial teacher. This would not incur any additional spending by the Department. The previous speaker referred to children's rights. The children have their rights in this case.

I hope the Minister for Education — who is doing wonderful work — will allocate remedial teachers to the six schools in question. In particular, I ask the Minister to ensure that Banada national school which is losing one teacher to redeploy that teacher, who knows the area, as a remedial teacher.

Minister for Defence and Minister for the Marine (Mr. Coveney)

As has been indicated to the House in the past, remedial education at primary level is a matter in the first instance for the ordinary class teachers. The majority of pupils with remedial needs would, therefore, be helped within the scope of the normal teaching service. However, it is acknowledged that remedial teachers constitute the main additional resource for addressing the problem of underachievement in primary schools.

Substantial additional resources have been allocated to this area in recent years. In 1994, an additional 100 remedial teachers were appointed to primary schools and 350 schools with approximately 34,000 pupils benefited from this allocation. This brought the total number of remedial teachers in place to 1,133. Of the 3,209 ordinary national schools throughout the country, approximately 2,061 now have the services of a remedial teacher, either on a full-time or on a shared basis.

My colleague, the Minister for Education, recently announced her intention to appoint an additional 55 remedial teachers in the current year. Decisions in relation to the allocation of these posts will be made shortly following the collection and analysis of information from schools by the Department's primary inspectorate. The posts will then be allocated on the basis of priority of need, as indicated by the information collected.

Of the 76 ordinary national schools in County Sligo, 31 now have the services of a remedial teacher, either on a full-time or shared basis. This includes eight schools allocated a remedial service in the current school year as part of the recent distribution of posts. This means that 68 per cent of the pupils attending ordinary national schools in County Sligo currently enjoy a remedial service.

I can assure the Deputy that the needs of the schools referred to by him will be considered in the context of the allocation of remedial posts in 1995.