Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is exceptionally important in building faith and trust in the new model of allocation that very significant consultation takes place, and that will take a period of time. It is important that it should happen. The report from the working group recommends that a new special education teacher allocation model, which would target resources where the need is greatest, should be introduced. At a time of finite resources it is important that teaching supports to children with special educational needs should be targeted at those with the greatest need. The Minister asked his officials to consult fully with the stakeholders. To assist in that process, the Department will gather the information required to develop the proposed new model. The Minister, Deputy Quinn, has been very proactive in ensuring that this report was published in a timely fashion and I do not anticipate any long delay in carrying out the consultative process and coming to a conclusion at the end of that as to how the recommendations of the report will be implemented.

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