I propose to take Questions Nos. 168, 186, and 198 together. I have received an application from Kilteely national school, County Limerick seeking the appointment of a remedial teacher.
I am not in a position at this stage to indicate to the Deputies whether I will be able to allocate any additional remedial or resource teachers to the primary school sector during 1996. I allocated 55 remedial and 10 resource teaching posts to primary schools with effect from September, 1995. These posts were allocated on the basis of priority of need following the collection an analysis of data by my Department's primary inspectorate.
This allocation brings the total number of remedial teachers now in place in the primary sector to 1,188 and the number of resource teachers to 36.
I am keeping the question of further appointments in this area under regular review as resources become available. The needs of all schools, including the schools referred to by the Deputies, will be considered within this context.