Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. Earlier this year, the approach to resource teaching hours was a matter of serious concern, as each child who had been in receipt of hours last year was to experience a reduction from 0.9 of an allocation to 0.85. The Minister's reversal of this decision was welcome. In doing so, he allocated additional teachers by bringing forward those who had been held back to meet the autumn demand that would arise from a new in-take of students and new diagnoses of needs.

I welcome the Minister's indication that he will ensure the need is met this autumn. Can the Minister give a figure on how many students are involved? How many new applications were made before the end of September for resource teaching hours? When will they get that allocation? Are they being allocated the additional required hours now or are they waiting for the Minister to allocate extra money to provide for that?

See this speech in context