Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 April 2004
305 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Education and Science the position of an application for resource hours for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and when a decision will be made on the application. [11124/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra306 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Education and Science when a decision will be made on an application for resource and SNA hours for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare in view of the fact that the application was made prior to September 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11125/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra318 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Education and Science when a decision will be made on an application for a person (details supplied) for resource hours in view of the concern of their parents in relation to his matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11183/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra319 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Education and Science the position of an application for resource teaching hours for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; the position of the application for SNA hours; when a decision will be made on the application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11184/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra323 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Education and Science when a decision will be made on resource hours and SNA hours in view of the fact the application is with his Department since September 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11188/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra324 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Education and Science when a decision will be made on resource hours and SNA hours for a person (details supplied) in view of the fact that the application was submitted before September 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11189/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 305, 306, 318, 319, 323 and 324 together.
The school referred to by the Deputy currently has the services of two full-time resource teachers, two full-time learning support teachers — one shared with another school — 16 full-time special needs assistants and four part-time special needs assistants, of which two full-time and two part-time special needs assistants are assigned to individual special needs pupils in mainstream classes. The remainder of the special needs assistants are deployed to cater for special needs pupils attached to special classes at the school.
I can confirm that my Department has received applications for additional special educational resources, SER, from the school on behalf of the pupils in question. SER applications received between 15 February and 31 August 2003, including those made by this school, are being considered at present. In all, more than 5,000 such applications were received. Priority was given to cases involving children starting school last September and all these cases were responded to at or before the commencement of the current school year.
The balance of more than 4,000 applications has been reviewed by a dedicated team comprising members of my Department's inspectorate and the national educational psychological service. These applications are being further considered in the context of the outcome of surveys of SER provision conducted over the past year or so. Account is also being taken of the data submitted by schools as part of the nationwide census of SER provision.
My Department is at present reviewing existing arrangements for the allocation of special educational supports to primary schools. In that context, my officials have been involved in on-going discussions on a weighted system of allocation of resource teaching support with representative interests. At this stage, it would be premature to anticipate the outcome for the schools referred to by the Deputy. However, the basic purpose of the new system is to ensure that each school has the level of resources required to cater for its pupils with special educational needs.
This process is a complex and time-consuming operation. However, my Department is endeavouring to have this completed as quickly as possible and my officials will then respond to all applicant schools. Pending a response, schools are advised to refer to Circular 24/03, which issued in September 2003. This circular contains practical advice on how to achieve the most effective deployment of resources already allocated for special educational needs within the school.
307 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will provide a personal assistant on a full-time basis for a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11131/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department received an application for special educational needs supports for the pupil referred to by the Deputy. The application is being considered at present and a response will issue to the school authorities as quickly as possible.
