Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister for his reply. Since the late 1990s huge advances have been made in putting in place a strong system of support for pupils with special educational needs. We must continue to support young people with special needs in our schools and protect the most vulnerable. As the Minister stated, those with more complex needs have better resources provided for them, as is necessary.

The Minister said 9,950 posts will be provided for the school year 2012-13 and that this is similar to what was provided for in the 2011-12 school year. Were all of those posts allocated in the 2011-12 school year or is that information available to the Minister? I understood from the Minister's response that 9,950 posts were provided for, but were they all taken up or offered?

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