Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

I appreciate that and I will be guided by your direction, a Chathaoirligh. Yesterday, we mentioned the issue of trained teachers in the context of the Bill. Currently, the Department of Education and Science is training no more than 35 teachers per annum at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick to work with children with special needs. Given that throughput, can the Minister of State explain how we will have enough adequately trained teachers to implement the legislation? Difficulties will arise because, while we will have pooled school resources, there will be a shortfall. There will be shortcomings in implementing the legislation, including delays that were highlighted in the debate yesterday. The Minister of State will appreciate that such delays can be crucial for those people. Something must be done, therefore, to fast-track the training of specialised teachers.

Inservice training is not the answer because we know that the Department of Education and Science's inservice programmes have many shortcomings. I do not wish to be over critical of the Department but there are huge shortcomings in the provision of inservice training at primary and secondary levels, including the lack of time available and the provision of replacement teachers. With an annual throughput of only 35 teachers to work with children with special educational needs, there will be serious difficulties in implementing the legislation.