Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

The announcement by the Minister for Education and Science of additional resources to provide learning support for children was made some time ago but schools must wait for up to one year to have it sanctioned. I understand a new weighting system will be introduced but schools do not know as of yet if they will lose, retain or gain teachers. I know of a school that applied for a special needs assistant in June 2003 and is still waiting. It is inexcusable that a child has to waste a year of his or her life. One year is a long time for anyone but to wait one year out of a total of eight years' primary education for a service is a scandal. I urge the Minister to explain this to the House. I understand the Department of Education and Science knows the schools that will be allocated the resources, but is not releasing this information to them. Schools need to plan ahead and the information should be made available to them at this stage.