Vol. 495 No. 4
366 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Science the progress, if any, made in his review of his Department's response to the needs of children with disabilities attending ordinary schools on a fully integrated basis; the plans, if any, he has to extend the childcare assistant programme to mainstream schools catering for children with special needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19912/98]
I am firmly committed to maximising the opportunities for special needs children to participate in the mainstream education system.
The Government's An Action Programme for the Millennium gives particular priority to this area through its commitment to equal opportunity and the priority it attaches to the provision of remedial teachers and resources for children with special learning difficulties. Where special needs children are concerned, it is necessary to view each case on an individual basis. For some children, the nature of the special need may be such that the child can function quite successfully in an integrated setting with the support, where necessary, of a remedial teacher, a resource teacher, or a visiting teacher.
I recently allocated an additional 26 posts of resource teacher to national schools bringing the total number of resource teachers now in place to 104. In addition, a further 60 remedial teacher posts were recently allocated to national schools. There are now 1302 remedial teachers employed in national schools. It is my intention to continue to develop these services as resources permit.
My capacity to allocate additional child care assistant posts in any given year is dependent on resource availability and the level of competing demand from other special needs areas. I have to determine priorities and allocate available resources to best effect.
However, I am conscious of a particular need for further improvements in the child care assistant area. I am currently reviewing provision in this area to ensure that all available resources are utilised to maximum effect.
