Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews. I wish him well in the future. We hope to hold him as accountable as his colleagues.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy cannot be too hard on him this evening.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I would like to highlight a major issue which has arisen in Drogheda. It was recently announced that the special needs unit attached to Marymount national school in the Ballsgrove area of the town will be unable to take new students from the end of this year. For a number of years the unit's teachers and special needs assistants have looked after extremely well five young people with special needs — there were six pupils there until quite recently. As the children move into the secondary system, their parents are becoming concerned. The special needs unit was established with the aim of integrating children with special needs into the ordinary environment in which all students are taught. It has worked extremely well. Five of the special needs students will be making their confirmation shortly. They are participating fully in the celebrations, for example by participating in music and mime. The parents of these children, as well as representatives of various organisations involved in this sector, are outraged that other young people in the Drogheda area and the surrounding districts in counties Meath and Louth will be unable to avail of the services of the unit.

Who is responsible for this closure? I have been informed that the powers that be, who are not necessarily based in the Department of Education and Science, do not intend to continue with the experiment of integrating special needs students in the local primary school. A great deal of concern has been expressed about this decision at local level. It has been the subject of an editorial in the Drogheda Independent. I await the Minister of State's response. I hope it will be as good as the response I would give him if the position were reversed. In other words, I would make sure that the unit would stay open.

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy O'Dowd for his kind remarks. I am pleased to have been given an opportunity to clarify the position in respect of the special needs class at Marymount national school, which had an enrolment of 422 pupils on 30 September 2007. The school's current staff comprises a principal teacher, 15 mainstream class teachers, a disadvantaged concessionary teaching post, five learning support and resource teaching posts, two special class teaching posts, a resource teacher for Travellers, a home school liaison post, three urban band teaching posts and five temporary language support teaching posts.

As the Deputy is aware, the National Council for Special Education is responsible, through its network of local special educational needs organisers, for allocating resource teachers and special needs assistants to schools to support children with special educational needs. The organisers approve the establishment of special classes where a need has been determined. I understand that officials from the Department of Education and Science have been in contact with the National Council for Special Education about the special needs class in Marymount national school. It seems that a significant number of children enrolled in the special class will move to post-primary education in September. I am informed that the local special educational needs organiser is actively involved in discussions with the school authorities and local HSE officials regarding the future of the special class. A decision has yet to be taken. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter.