Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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Question 829: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will publish the special needs teacher allocation for primary schools before the end of the academic year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10100/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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In light of the reality that pupils in the high incidence disability categories of mild and borderline mild general learning disability and dyslexia are distributed throughout the education system, my Department, in consultation with educational interests, developed a general model of resource teacher allocation to schools to support students in these disability categories. This model, announced by my predecessor in 2004 to come into effect from September 2005, was designed to put in place a permanent resource in primary schools to cater for pupils in these categories. The model was constructed so that allocations would be based on pupil numbers, taking into account the differing needs of the most disadvantaged schools and the evidence that boys have greater difficulties than girls in this regard.

There are advantages of using a general allocation model. It facilitates early intervention as the resource is in place in the school when the child enrols. It reduces the need for individual applications and supporting psychological assessments. It puts resources in place on a more systematic basis, thereby giving schools more certainty about their resource levels. It gives more security to special education teaching posts and makes special education teaching a more attractive option. It allows flexibility to school management in the deployment of resources, leading to a more effective and efficient delivery of services. It will automatically adjust a school's general allocation on the basis of changing enrolment.

While I am in favour of using a general allocation model for these reasons, I am conscious of the particular difficulties that the model announced last year could cause for small and rural schools if implemented as originally announced. I have asked my Department to conduct a review of the model announced last year. The review will be completed in the coming weeks and its outcome will be announced in time to be implemented for the next school year.