Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The majority of primary school pupils with special needs no longer require assessments in order to get extra support. When one recognises that there are 9,000 teachers and 10,000 special needs assistants, it is a particular priority and has ensured there are major improvements for our children.

Training has been improved significantly as well. This was an area where little had been done but there has been a major expansion of the special education support service. The service was set up in 2003 but last year alone it was in contact with 15,000 teachers.

The day-to-day funding for special classes has been significantly improved, and has been almost doubled for classes for children under 12 with a physical disability. A new package of extra resources — higher capitation grants, teaching principles and priority status on the building programme — has been made available to encourage schools to set up special classes for children with autism.