The Deputy is generally correct. Individual applications from between 15 February and 31 August have effectively been processed in the Department at this stage. However, there is a second part of the process which is still being carried on, that is, the assessment of the resources available to the schools concerned. We conducted an audit of the provisions available to schools at the end of last year. The results of this are being processed in the Department. The second half of the picture, therefore, is to see where resources are needed within the system. We accept that the individuals may have a need but we must now establish whether the resources are already in the school and if the need can be dealt with from within the school's current resources.
That is the reason I refer to circular 24/03. To put it bluntly, the system we had in operation in the past only added more resources with little reference to what might have gone through the system. There was a situation where special needs assistants and resource teaching hours were available within the system but the children for whom they were made available had passed out of the school and the resources were never checked again. We are now trying to match the resources within the school to the needs of the young people who have applied to the Department.
With regard to applications after September 2003, we are in discussions about a weighted system with various groups and interested parties. This would mean that we could automatically provide the resources for schools from the start of the school year. The schools would be as aware of the resources they will have as they are of the number of teachers they will have and will be able to cater for the special needs automatically, particularly the less severe special needs. The schools would know from September how many resource hours, resource teachers and so forth they will have. We are anxious to finalise those discussions because there is no point appointing people and then removing them from the system again.