Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

At present, there are approximately 60,000 teachers and 20,000 individuals working with children with special needs. This represents an increase of 60% in the number of staff in our classrooms in ten years, which is an outstanding achievement.

People are aware of the figures relating to special needs but some do not like hearing them. There are some 19,000 adults in our schools who work solely with children with special needs. There are some 10,000 special needs assistants. When I became a Deputy, the post of special needs assistant was almost unheard of. In addition, there are 7,800 resource and learning support teachers and 1,100 other teachers support children with special needs. Some hundreds more work in special classes.

Reference was made to language support posts. We must be realistic in this regard. We are returning to the level that obtained in 2007.

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