Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

Unlike teachers, where posts are allocated on a pupil-teacher ratio basis, enabling a redeployment scheme to work effectively, special needs assistant posts are allocated on the basis of individual care needs and the creation of a workable redeployment scheme would be more difficult.

Discussions are ongoing with IMPACT, as referred to by the Deputy, on this matter and further discussions are scheduled for next week. However, the appointment of special needs assistants to individual schools is a matter for the boards of management of those schools. It is open to any existing special needs assistant to apply for a newly created post in any other school.

The revised procedure for providing a general allocation of resource teaching hours to schools will be announced soon, in time to be implemented for the next school year. Resource teaching for children in the lower incidence disability categories is now dealt with by the National Council for Special Education. These resources will continue to be allocated on the basis of individual applications.

I thank Deputy Ó Caoláin for giving me the opportunity to clarify the position on these matters.

See this speech in context