Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 18 May 1995

Vol. 143 No. 9

Adjournment Matters. - Lifford (Donegal) School.

Mr. Maloney

I call for the appointment of a remedial teacher for Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál in Lifford, County Donegal. It is a five teacher school at present, which lost a teacher towards the end of 1994. The school currently has 149 pupils and is in an area of high unemployment. Out of the total number of pupils, 87 live in local authority housing and 22 live in non-permanent accommodation. Some 80 of the pupils are covered by a medical card and for 57 of them the only income coming into the home is unemployment benefit.

The area has a high proportion of problems because there is a major housing estate in the area. Unemployment, health, marriage and social problems are rife and this school seems to have all the problem children in the area. A school in close proximity, St. Patrick Murlog's school, received an extra post and extra capitation of £17 per pupil in 1993. However Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál, which is in my estimation more deserving, has not received anying. I ask the Department to give the school a remedial teacher and disadvantaged status next year.

The two secondary schools to which most of the pupils go are in Raphoe and Stranorlar but few of them ever continue at second level. I met the teachers recently and they expressed concern about the problems of parents liaising with the school and the children. They feel they need help badly, which is why I ask the Department to take a sympathetic view and consider appointing a remedial teacher.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Ms McManus)

As has been indicated to the House in the past remedial education at primary level is a matter in the first instance for the ordinary class teachers. The majority of pupils with remedial needs would therefore be helped within the scope of the normal teaching service. However, it is acknowledged that remedial teachers constitute the main additional resource for addressing the problem of underachievement in primary schools.

Substantial additional resources have been allocated to this area in recent years. In 1994 an additional 100 remedial teachers were appointed to primary schools and 350 schools with approximately 34,000 pupils benefited from this allocation. This brought the total number of remedial teachers in place to 1,133. Of the 3,209 ordinary national schools throughout the country approximately 2,061 now have the services of a remedial teacher, either on a full time or shared basis.

The Minister for Education recently announced her intention to appoint an additional 55 remedial teachers in the current year. Decisions on the allocation of these posts will be made shortly following the collection and analysis of information from schools by the Department's primary inspectorate. The posts will then be allocated on the basis of priority of need, as indicated by the information collected.

Of the 178 ordinary national schools in County Donegal, 97 now have the services of a remedial teacher on a full-time or shared basis. This includes 23 schools allocated a remedial service in the current school year as part of the recent distribution of posts. This means that 73 per cent of pupils attending ordinary national schools in County Donegal currently enjoy a remedial service.

I can assure the Senator the needs of Scoil Mhuire gan Smál will be considered in the context of the allocation of remedial posts in 1995.

The Seanad adjourned at 2.10 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 24 May 1995.