John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

However, it would appear that some of the children who are enrolled in the MGLD classes in the school in question may fall within the low incidence disability category and may qualify for resource teaching support through the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. Officials in the Department have been in contact with the NCSE and I understand that the school has initiated contact with the special educational needs organiser, SENO, in this regard. I understand also that the SENO will convey a decision to the school as soon as this process has been completed.

The pupils in the class being suppressed will continue to receive additional teaching support through the teaching resources allocated to primary schools under the general allocation model. Schools decide how best to use this allocation based on the needs of the pupils and how to adjust their support in line with the changing needs of pupils as they mature. The Department issued a circular SP ED 02/05 to all schools to assist them in deploying the general allocation model resources.

The Department of Education and Science promotes a continuum of assessment and intervention. These interventions range from support from the classroom teacher to support from the resource/learning support teacher. Where a school considers that these interventions are not meeting the child's needs, it should seek the advice of its National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, psychologist. Schools without an assigned NEPS psychologist can avail of the scheme for commissioning psychological assessments. Advice may be also sought from the local special educational needs organiser. The Deputy will be aware of the unprecedented investment in providing supports for children with special needs in recent years. There are now about 19,000 adults in our schools working solely with children with special needs. There are more than 8,000 resource and learning support teachers in our schools, compared with just 2,000 in 1998. More than 1,000 other teachers support children in our special schools. Some 86 classes for children with mild general learning disability are being retained where there are nine children or more in these classes.

The Minister for Education and Science wishes to emphasise that priority will continue to be given to provision for children with special educational needs. The establishment of these classes for mild general learning disability pre-date many of the developments in special education policy in recent years and we now have a system for providing schools with supports for children with high incidence special needs through the general allocation model.

In raising the matter, the Deputy specifically asked whether there was a need to appoint a Minister who has a special needs child. The Minister of State responding to him tonight has been in that position and had a child in that situation who availed of mainstream education. As a conscientious parent, I did not have an opportunity to avail of this class. However, I can say that the services provided through the other supports provided me, my family and our daughter with a very positive educational experience.

I thank the Deputy again for giving me the opportunity to clarify the position with regard to this matter.

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