Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 March 2004
102 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will report on the unacceptable delay in providing resource tuition for a person at a school (details supplied); when he proposes to implement the recommended assessment of this person on 7 July 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9365/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department received an application for special educational resources for the pupil. SER applications received between 15 February and 31 August 2003 are being considered. More than 5,000 applications were received. Priority was given to children that started school last September. All of these cases were responded to before or soon after the commencement of the current school year.
The remaining 4,000 applications were reviewed by a dedicated team comprising members of my Department's inspectorate and the National Educational Psychological Service. Surveys of SER provision were conducted over the past year and consequently the applications are being further considered. Account is also being taken of the data submitted by schools as part of the recent nationwide census of SER provision.
The processing of applications is a complex and time consuming operation. My Department will endeavour to finish the process as quickly as possible and then my officials will respond to all applicant schools. Pending a response, schools are advised to refer to circular 24/03 that issued last September. It contains practical advice on how to achieve the most effective deployment of resources already allocated for special educational needs within a school.
