Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)

I thank the Senator for affording me the opportunity to outline to the House the position of the Department of Education and Science concerning the provision of special educational needs resources for the pupil in question, who is currently enrolled in a mainstream school in County Donegal. An application for resource teaching support in respect of the pupil in question was submitted to the Department of Education and Science by the school and was reviewed by the National Educational Psychological Service in December 2004. The outcome of the review was that the pupil's needs fall within the high incidence category.

In this context, the Senator will be aware that a new general allocation system has been announced under which schools will be provided with resource teaching hours, based on their enrolment figures, to cater for children with high incidence special needs such as dyslexia and those with learning support needs. More than 600 extra resource teaching posts are being provided in our primary schools from next September to underpin the introduction of the new scheme.

The reason for the new scheme is simple. Children with special needs such as dyslexia or mild learning difficulties are found in almost every school. It makes sense that every school should have a number of resource teaching hours based on the number of pupils in the school. This is a major improvement on the previous system, under which schools with a high incidence of special educational needs required a psychological assessment for every child before they were given resource teaching hours by the Department. This was a time-consuming process that often led to delays in children getting the support they needed. Resource teachers will now be in place in the school from the start of the school year so that children who need their assistance can get it straight away. The school this pupil is attending has been informed that it has received a teaching allocation of five part-time hours under the general allocation scheme to meet the needs of pupils such as the one referred to by Senator McHugh.

It is up to the school to use its professional judgment to decide how these hours are divided between different pupils to ensure all their needs are met. Research shows that some children with special needs will respond better with one-to-one tuition. However, others do better when taught in small groups. Often it is best for resource teachers to work with children in the classroom rather than taking them away to a separate room, as the children then have to catch up work done by the rest of the class in their absence. The point is that the type of response needed depends on the child.

While the new scheme will not prevent schools from giving one-to-one time with the resource teacher to children that need it, one-to-one teaching is not the best option for every child. The Senator may be aware that the National Council for Special Education, which has been operational since 1 January 2005, is now responsible for processing applications for special educational needs supports and deciding on the level of support appropriate to the school. Some 71 special educational needs organisers, SENOs, have been recruited throughout the country and will be a focal point of contact for schools and parents. The local SENO has confirmed that to date no application for additional special educational needs supports has been received in respect of the pupil in question. However, should the school wish to forward additional supporting documentation not previously considered in respect of this pupil to the relevant SENO, arrangements will be made to have the matter examined further. I thank Senator McHugh once again for giving me the opportunity to clarify the position on this matter.