Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

It is a little like a meeting of the Clare persons' association in the Chamber this evening. I am a second generation Clare person.

The phrase "A lot done, more to do" is applicable in the area of special needs. The announcement in the past few days by the Department of Education and Science regarding the specific allocations of special needs assistants is incredible. The Department had that information for more than a year.

I am aware of a particular case, which arose for a school in County Clare. A civil servant based in Wicklow collected from the school all the information needed about its pupils with special needs and returned to Dublin with it. The school in question then had to fill out a detailed questionnaire and had to answer many detailed questions on the matter over the telephone. The same information was requested from the school on three different occasions. As if that were not bad enough, the school then had to wait a full year for the allocation to be made. One student had to wait 12 months for a special needs assistant. A year is a long time but a year out of eight years in terms of one's primary school education is an extremely long time. Primary school education is in many ways the foundation for life.

Announcement of the allocations last Friday when most schools had commenced or were about to commence their summer holidays was an incredible decision which placed principals in an impossible position. While some schools gained resource hours, a particular school in north Kilkenny is losing them. That places principals and parents in an impossible situation, especially those parents whose children will not now obtain special needs assistance. They cannot take up this matter during the summer because schools are closed, principals or class teachers are not available and trying to get through to the Department of Education and Science or obtaining an answer from officials there is a major endeavour, to say the least.

One would imagine the Department of Education and Science to be the smartest Department. However, that is not the case. Many schools which received news that they are to gain teachers also received a circular regarding staff appointments and new procedures that may arise as a result of special needs allocations. That matter was decided last March yet it has taken three months for schools to receive that circular. Perhaps the Minister of State will reply on those two points. Why was the announcement regarding special needs appointments made at the 11th hour and why did a circular regarding staff appointments and procedures for appointments take three or four months to arrive in schools? I understand some schools have not yet received the circular.

The deployment of teachers for the coming school year is unclear. The circular states that the Department of Education and Science will communicate with schools regarding new clusters of schools being created before the commencement of the coming school year. That is very vague. Schools are closed for the summer. When will principals and teachers be informed of what will happen? Many Members represent rural constituencies where schools are currently working in clusters. It will be awkward for three or four principals to pool resources and work together. This decision places them in a difficult situation. Although I hope I am wrong, I predict there will be anarchy and chaos in schools for the first few weeks of September. That should not be the case. In my view the Minister should make decisions for the following school year in February to ensure a smooth transition period. The danger now is that the months of September and October will be wasted while schools try to get organised.

The Bill proposes the removal of children with dyslexia and dyspraxia from resource hours to learning support teachers. However, school staff have no idea how such teachers will put in the hours required by these children while taking care of the needs of children with learning difficulties. The position of special needs assistants is also vague. The circular states that schools will be advised of the outcome of their application as soon as possible in advance of the next school year. When will they be advised in that regard given that they are closed for the summer?

The Department has not informed schools of decisions regarding resource hours, special needs assistants and possible job appointments. It takes a number of weeks to fill vacancies as one must first advertise the position and then hold interviews. That impinges on principals and boards of management who must give up their time to deal with this matter during the summer, something which is quite difficult to do at a time when most people take their holidays. The announcement of extra special needs assistants is to be welcomed. However, I wonder from where they will come. It is currently quite difficult to recruit full-time qualified teachers. It is possible special needs assistants will be taken from mainstream classes. The question then arises as to who will replace them. I recently raised the issue of cutbacks in the postgraduate places for teacher training. Such cutbacks make no sense given the number of graduates wanting to undertake teacher training. It is not good enough that they cannot do so. They should be allowed to take the postgraduate course because there is a shortage of teachers and the country needs teachers badly. It does not make sense to reduce the number of postgraduate places.

Will students who receive resource hours keep those hours for the following year and the rest of their school-going days? I am aware that five children who receive special needs assistance in a school were not on a list given to the school's authorities recently. When parents telephoned the Department to find out why their children were not on the list, they were informed that a mistake had been made by, the Department and that they should be on the list. Was it a one-off case or are similar cases to be found throughout the country? Is it the case that children who should be on lists are missing from such lists? The system does not seem to be very well organised because mistakes are being made. Such mistakes will not be spotted until September because we are entering the summer period.

The National Disability Authority began its work in June 2000 and has published three annual reports since then. The reports have not been made public, which is not a great vote of confidence. I ask that the reports be released so we can make a judgment on the authority's work. I am glad to have availed of the opportunity to discuss this matter. When I raised it on the Order of Business, the Leader, who is a former teacher and Minister for Education, agreed with the points I made. I hope the Minister of State will bear them in mind.