Dan Neville
Ceist:453 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Education and Science when a class for children with disabilities will be provided for children at a school (details supplied) in County Limerick. [11673/98]
Written Answers. - Special Education Needs.
I am aware that a request was made by this school to have a special class set up to cater for the needs of children with Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD).
Many children exhibiting less serious forms of the symptoms associated with ADD/ADHD are being successfully catered for within mainstream classes, with the support of the remedial teaching service. The remedial service is being expanded on an ongoing basis and in the current school year there are a total of 1,242 remedial teachers in the primary sector.
Where more pronounced forms of ADD/ADHD are involved, the children can be catered for in special schools or through support from the resource teacher or teacher-counsellor. There are at present 78 resource teacher posts and 27 teacher-counsellor posts allocated to primary schools.
I am currently reviewing provision across the special needs area to ensure that all available resources are deployed to maximum effect. I assure the Deputy that the needs of children in the school to which he refers will be considered in this context.