Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 284: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of remedial teachers in mathematics teaching at primary level and at secondary level; the way in which the number of these have increased over the past five years; the last occasion on which the remedial teaching scheme was evaluated; if it made recommendations in respect of remedial teaching in mathematics; and the extent to which these recommendations have been implemented. [23194/04]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The number of learning support teachers has grown from 1463 to 1531 over the last five years. I also wish to inform the Deputy that the number of resource teachers has grown from 200 to over 2,500 over the same period. The learning support service was evaluated by the Educational Research Centre on behalf of my Department in 1997 and its report was published in 1998. It made recommendations on the provision of learning support in mathematics. The implementation of these recommendations is contained in the learning support guidelines which issued to primary schools in 2000.

I wish to point out that the learning support teachers remit, both at primary and secondary level, includes the teaching of mathematics. All second level schools in the free education scheme have an entitlement to an ex-quota allocation in respect of remedial education since the beginning of the 1999-2000 school year. The general position is that schools with enrolments of 600 or more pupils are allocated a full post; schools with enrolments below 600 pupils are allocated 0.5 of a post. However, schools with enrolments below 600 which were specifically allocated a full post in respect of remedial education by my Department prior to the 1999-2000 school year retain their entitlement to an allocation of a full post. The learning support posts which are enrolment based have fluctuated from 549.5 to 528 whole time teacher equivalents for the period in question. In the same period the number of teaching hours in respect of special needs pupils has increased from 559 to 1,206 whole time teacher equivalents.