Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I apologise to the Senator on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science who unfortunately could not attend the Seanad today. I am pleased to have been given the opportunity on behalf of the Department of Education and Science to clarify the position on the allocation of learning support provision for the schools referred to by the Senator.

It is a matter for the school principal, together with the learning support teacher, to allocate appropriate time to pupils requiring learning support assistance. However, the Department of Education and Science is reviewing existing arrangements for the allocation of special educational supports to primary schools. In that context, officials from the Department have been involved in ongoing discussions on a weighted system of allocation with representative interests. At this stage it would be premature to anticipate the outcome for the schools in question. I can confirm, however, that the basic purpose of that review is to ensure that each school has the level of resources required to cater for its pupils with special educational needs.