Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 October 2004
309 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Science , further to correspondence from this Deputy to her office and the response received on 17 September 2004, if the inquiries to be made into the special educational needs of a person (details supplied) in County Cork have been completed; if she has decided to make resources available to this person as a matter of urgency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26034/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhere a pupil with special educational needs enrols in a post-primary school, it is open to the school to apply to my Department for additional teaching support for the pupil. My Department allocates additional teaching support and special needs assistant support to second level schools and vocational educational committees to cater for pupils with special educational needs. Each application is considered on the basis of the assessed needs of the pupils involved and the nature and level of support provided is determined on the advice of the psychological service.
The school concerned has been allocated 17.50 hours per week additional teaching support for the 2004-05 school year to cater for the special educational needs of a number of pupils including the pupil to which the Deputy refers. The level of resource teaching allocated to the school in question by my Department was determined after detailed consideration of the school's application, the supporting documentation provided, including the recommendations made by the National Educational Psychological Service and having regard to the overall level of resources already available to the school to address special needs issues.
Where a school authority is of the view that the level of needs within the school is such as to be incapable of being addressed from within its current allocation, my Department will consider these concerns. Such consideration requires a clear demonstration of the inadequacy of the allocation by reference to the current utilisation of the school's available resources.
