Vol. 500 No. 2
178 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of visiting teachers who provide ongoing tuition for non-national children in the Dublin area; and the proposals, if any, he has to expand the visiting teacher scheme. [28371/98]
At present there is only one visiting teacher providing tuition for non-national pupils in the Dublin area. There were five such teachers working on a temporary scheme which was set up in 1992 to cater for the language needs of programme refugees. Four of these were on secondment and one was a temporary appointment. Of these, two teachers returned to their schools in January of this year, one had already gone to live outside the jurisdiction and one has accepted a permanent teaching appointment. Only one continues to visit schools.
I expect to be in a position in the near future to announce details of a new scheme to help the authorities of national schools which have enrolled substantial numbers of non-national pupils with English language deficits. The posts which were available on the former scheme will be redeployed and a substantial number of new posts will be created for the new scheme.
The appointees to this new scheme will be attached to specific schools and will not operate on a visiting teacher service basis.
