Vol. 523 No. 4
247 Mr. Gregory asked the Minister for Education and Science if the request of the board of management of O'Connell CBS school, North Richmond Street, Dublin 1, for an additional remedial teacher will be agreed to in view of the 108 children in need, the majority of whom do not have a remedial teacher. [21084/00]
I am aware of the case to which the Deputy refers.
The school in question currently has the services of a remedial teacher on a full-time basis. It also has the support of a resource teacher post which was deployed to cater for children with special learning needs attending the school on an integrated basis. In addition, a special class teacher has been allocated to cater for children with a mild general learning disability attending the school.
In September 1999 the remedial teaching service was extended to all primary schools with a pupil teacher ratio of 10:1 or above. Schools with lower pupil teacher ratios were advised that they could seek a remedial service if they could demonstrate a need for such a service. My Department sanctioned the appointment of 148 full-time remedial teachers and a further 27 remedial post equivalents in part-time hours in order to facilitate the extension of the service to every primary school in the country for the 1999-2000 school year. A further 15 full-time remedial posts were subsequently sanctioned to address the particular needs of a number of very large schools.
248 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Education and Science when he will appoint a remedial teacher for St. Michael's junior national school, Cootehill, County Cavan; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the delay in this appointment is preventing the school from participating in the national reading initiative; the number of applications received from schools for remedial teachers; and the number of appointments in the last school year. [21217/00]
The school in question has the services of a remedial teacher which it shares with three other schools in the area.
In September 1999 the remedial teacher service was extended to all primary schools with a pupil teacher ratio of 10:1 or above. Schools with lower pupil teacher ratios were advised that they could seek remedial support where they could demonstrate a need for such a service.
In order to extend the service to all primary schools, my Department allocated 148 full-time remedial teacher posts and a further 27 posts in part-time remedial allocations at the commencement of the school year 1999-2000. A further 15 remedial teacher posts were subsequently allocated to address particular needs which arose in a number of large schools.
I can assure the Deputy that St. Michael's junior national school, Cootehill, will be considered in the event of additional resources becoming available to improve existing remedial services.
249 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason for the delay in appointing a resource teacher to Ballynarry national school and Corlurgan national school in County Cavan; and when he will make the appointments. [21218/00]
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that my Department has recently sanctioned an allocation of five hours per week resource teacher support and a full-time special needs assistant post for Corlurgan national school.
My Department has also sanctioned a further five hours resource teaching support for Ballynarry national school.
Allocations of resource teachers and special needs assistant support are based on my Department's inspectorate's assessment of the level of special need involved in each case.
250 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Education and Science when he will appoint a resource teacher for Laragh national school, Laragh, County Cavan; the reason there is such a long delay in this appointment; if his attention has been drawn to the parents' concerns for their children due to this delay of 18 months in making an appointment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21219/00]
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that my Department has recently sanctioned an allocation of part-time resource teaching support to cater for the special educational needs of pupils attending Laragh national school.
My Department has also sanctioned the appointment of a full-time special needs assistant to support a number of children with special needs attending the school.
Arrangements are currently being made to notify the school authorities of these allocations.
251 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Education and Science if the level of hours of service from a resource teacher will be extended to six hours per week for a person (details supplied) in County Limerick. [21220/00]
I understand that, following an investigation by my Department's inspectorate, an allocation of 3.5 hours resource teacher support and 12.5 hours special needs assistant support have been made available to the child in question.
I further understand that my Department is not aware of an application from the school in question seeking an increase in the supports now allocated. However, I have asked my Department's inspectorate to investigate whether a need exists for increased resource teacher support. My Department will be in contact with the school authorities when the inspectorate's report is received.
