Vol. 467 No. 4
195 Dr. McDaid asked the Minister for Education the number of children with Down's Syndrome attending mainstream primary schools, excluding those attending special classes attached to such schools in counties Donegal and Galway; and the frequency and duration of visits in respect of each child per week by the visiting teacher service funded by her Department, excluding travelling time. [13512/96]
My Department does not keep detailed records of the number of children with Down's Syndrome attending mainstream primary schools. At present, the visiting teacher service in County Donegal caters for six children with Down's Syndrome. Two of these children are visited twice a week. Each such visit is of one to one-and-a-half hours duration. The other four children are visited once a week. These visits last approximately one-and-a-half hours each.
In County Galway, a visiting teacher calls on one child with Down's Syndrome attending a mainstream primary school. Such visits generally take place every third week and last approximately three-quarters of an hour. Outside of post-primary school terms, this child is visited on a weekly basis.
The frequency of visits by individual visiting teachers can vary depending not only on the case-loads of the teachers concerned but also on the particular needs of the children in question.
