Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 May 2005
443 Mr. Lowry asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of special needs assistants to be made redundant in County Tipperary in 2005; the number of special needs assistants working in the country in total; the number of special needs assistants required to cater for special needs children in the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15469/05]
Amharc ar fhreagra444 Mr. Lowry asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason 70 special needs assistants are to be made redundant nationally in 2005. [15470/05]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 443 and 444 together.
It is not possible to provide the specific information requested on special needs assistants in County Tipperary. However, a review has been conducted in recent months to establish whether primary schools have the level of special needs assistant support that they need for children in their care, whether they have resources which they no longer need or whether they need extra resources. The review found that some schools no longer have the care needs for which the special needs assistant was originally sanctioned that is, in some cases the child may have left the school while in other cases the care needs of the child have diminished as the child has progressed through the school. In this regard, the schools where surplus special needs assistant support was identified have been advised that they may retain this surplus until the end of the current school year.
Special needs assistants are assigned to schools to meet the care needs of individual children who have been assessed as needing this type of support. Where it has been established that additional special needs assistant posts are required, these posts continue to be allocated on an ongoing basis. Those schools have been informed that they may make the necessary arrangements immediately for putting the required staff in place.
This Government has put in place an unprecedented level of support for children with special needs. Since 1998, the number of special needs assistants has increased from under 300 to nearly 6,000 nationally. In addition to this, more effective systems, such as the establishment of the National Council for Special Education, have been put in place to ensure that children receive support as early as possible. At this stage the National Council for Special Education has dealt with all new applications from schools for special needs assistance that will be required from the beginning of September 2005. Therefore, there should be no reason why a child enrolling in a school in September 2005 who needs special needs assistance does not have that assistance in place from his or her first day in school.
