Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

That represents an increase of 9% on last year's allocation. Education will receive 16.8% of current Government expenditure this year while 8.8% of total capital expenditure will be allocated to schools and other educational facilities. If, during the debate, Opposition Members pursue the predictable tactic of knocking the Government for not doing enough, they should reflect on how much the Government is spending in this area.

A significant percentage of the extra funding for education announced by the Government in this year's budget is earmarked for special needs education. A sum of €628 million will be spent on the provision of special educational services, an increase of €67 million on last year. This will pay for the recruitment of 700 additional special needs assistants, which was provided for in the Estimates and which will bring the total number of assistants to almost 6,000. The number of resource teachers has increased from 104 in 1998 to 2,600 this year while 1,500 learning support teachers are in place. In addition, 1,000 teachers are working in special schools.

As well as providing the funding for these posts, the Government has implemented important legislation, particularly the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004. The purpose of the Act is to provide education for children with special educational needs, to guarantee as a right the education of children with disabilities and to ensure that right is protected by law. That is a significant commitment. It also takes into account the role of parents and the support mechanisms that will be implemented to ensure the best educational standards for their children. Another objective of the legislation is to provide equity in education services between children with disabilities and those without special needs. It also makes provision for the education of a citizen who may be over 18 but intellectually at the level of a child, an important distinction.

The other important matter, on which I do a great deal of thinking, is integrated education. How it is to work is a very serious question. It has not worked very well hitherto and I would like to hear the Minister's views on the issue. I am all for it if we can provide the classroom resources. I also feel it is very important that we designate a centre or school since we know that in the past, educational establishments did not accept their responsibilities and simply passed the buck to another school. The resources will be made available for the education of children with special educational needs and it is very important that we support that. I know the Minister has made commitments in that regard.

The establishment of the National Council for Special Education came into effect in January, and I believe more time is needed for the organisers who will be appointed to liaise with the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Education and Science regarding assessment and monitoring the educational needs of children with disabilities; I would like to hear the Minister's views on that. This is to be welcomed as it puts in place a big structure of supports for parents, as well as monitoring and assessment. That is a very important area of the Act.

Another absolutely necessary area concerns the special transport arrangements introduced. That measure also dealt with the challenges of special needs education. There is a question regarding how that will work when it comes to escorts being available for children attending school. I welcome the fact that a budget of €30 million has been allocated by the Government for that purpose. That is a very large area and monitoring it will be very important. The Minister has already made a statement on small class sizes, which is welcome. The special classes for children with autism took a long time to get off the ground and I know that the Minister is in favour of them.

I may have to deviate a little and talk about the role of the guidance counsellors. I welcome the Minister's commitment to a complementary role for guidance counsellors who will assist in the holistic aspect of education by facilitating young people to reach their maximum potential. I know that 80 such counsellors have been introduced already and the Minister has 100 more in the pipeline. The Institute of Guidance Counsellors is delighted with the Minister for her commitment in that regard. We must also ensure that those extra guidance counsellors go into the junior cycle and I understand the Minister is thinking in those terms. It is very important to target children at this stage. That is where the problems exist; a great many children from dysfunctional backgrounds need counselling and guidance in their first, second and third years. We need more group work with young people at that level as one-to-one assistance may not be possible. I welcome the increase in the numbers and look forward to hearing more in the area.

The Government's work on special education can be seen throughout the country. There are approximately 407 schools with special education classes. In my area, two such schools have provided excellent services, namely, Cheeverstown House and Scoil Mhuire in Ballyboden. They are doing superb work; I cite them as an example of what can be done and how pleased people are with the Government's commitment over the past year to fulfil the commitment to special education. There are great challenges, and I note that they will remain with the Minister, who must achieve the highest standards of education for all children. Progress has been made for which the Minister deserves great recognition. She should continue with the good work.