Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

The Minister effectively stated in his reply that 7,400 children have not been allocated the resources a psychologist recommended they need because the Department had not a competent system in place to deal with the applications. When did the system change? Previously, if a psychologist made a report it was sent to the Department, after which a box was ticked and resources were granted. Are the 350 posts the Minister announced at Easter in addition to the existing provision? When will an announcement be made on the location of the posts? A number of teachers are concerned about this. If the posts are additional posts, the position might be different. This issue is particularly important given that the schools will close in five weeks. If there is to be a 1:150 ratio, what will happen in smaller schools, particularly rural schools, which currently have a resource teacher for a certain number of students but which will not have an enrolment of 150 students?

Many of the surveys that have been conducted indicated that more boys than girls have a special need. In some cases the ratio is 2:1 and in others it is 3:1. What will happen in an all-boys school with only 150 pupils? It may have many more students with special needs than an all-girls school with the same number of pupils. Has the Minister considered this?

What exactly does the Minister mean when he refers to the further consideration of 4,000 applications? Have resources been allocated to the 4,000 applicants? What consideration are they being given?

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