Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I do not have figures to hand. The 3% figure to which I referred relates to the specific high incidence group. The task force on dyslexia recognised that the teacher, in the first instance, would identify a need and refer a child to a learning support in the school. If this did not work, the teacher would call in a NEPS psychologist to evaluate what further needs should be met. The matter will be tackled in the first instance through learning support.

In addition to 2,600 resource teachers, 1,500 learning support teachers work in our schools. With this kind of allocation, we should be able to meet the more general needs of our children, while the needs of children with high incidence needs will continue to be addressed separately.

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