Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 403: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the arrangements in place at post-primary level for September 2005, specifically for primary pupils with special learning needs who have been educated in special classes in national schools in Kildare. [12794/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has been established as an independent statutory body with responsibilities as set out in the National Council for Special Education (Establishment) Order 2003. With effect from 1 January 2005, the NCSE through local special educational needs organisers, SENOs, will process resource applications for children with special educational needs. Where a pupil with special educational needs enrols in a post-primary school, it is open to the school to apply to the local SENO for additional teaching support and/or special needs assistant support for the pupil.

The precise model of provision made available will depend on the assessed needs of the pupils involved. Some students are capable of attending ordinary classes on an integrated basis with additional teacher and/or special needs assistant support. In other cases, placement in special dedicated classes or units attached to the school may be the more appropriate response. Such special classes operate at significantly reduced pupil-teacher ratios. For example, a special class catering for children with a mild general learning disability would have a support rate equating with a maximum pupil-teacher ratio of 11:1. A class catering for children on the autistic spectrum would be supported at a pupil teacher ratio of 6:1. Students attached to these special classes may be facilitated in attending ordinary subject classes on an integrated basis wherever possible.