Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 473: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when she expects to be in a position to meet in full the special needs or other teaching requirements as set out by the various second level school authorities throughout County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13442/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 475: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when she expects to be in a position to meet the outstanding requirements in respect of special needs or support teaching requirements at second level schools throughout County Kildare; the number of such posts likely to be filled in the current year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13444/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 473 and 475 together.

Teacher allocations to second levels schools are approved annually by my Department in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. Each school management authority is required to organise its timetable and subject options having regard to pupils needs within the limit of its approved teacher allocation. Apart from meeting requirements for the provision of the so-called "core subjects", the curriculum offered in individual second level schools is a matter for the authorities of the schools concerned having regard to its approved teacher allocation.

The rules for allocating teaching resources provide that, where a school management authority is unable to meet its curricular commitments from within its approved allocation, my Department will consider applications for additional short-term support, such as curricular concessions. My Department has recently issued decisions on all applications for additional short term support for the 2005-06 school year.

If a school is not satisfied with the outcome of its application for additional short-term support, it may appeal to an independent appeals committee. This appeals committee operates independently of the Department and its decisions are final. 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. A total of 30.68 whole-time equivalent, WTE, teaching posts and a total of 12.52 WTE special needs assistants posts were allocated to schools in County Kildare for the 2004-05 school year.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 474: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when she expects to be in a position to meet in full the special needs or other teaching requirements as set out by the various primary school authorities throughout County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13443/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 476: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when she expects to be in a position to meet the outstanding requirements in respect of special needs or support teaching requirements at primary level schools throughout County Kildare; the number of such posts likely to be filled in the current year. [13445/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 484: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the need for extra special needs or support teachers in various schools throughout the country; if she expects to be in a position to address this issue in the short to medium term; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13453/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 474, 476 and 484 together.

The mainstream staffing of a primary school, including primary schools in County Kildare, is determined by applying the enrolment of the school on 30 September of the previous school year to a staffing schedule agreed between my Department and the education partners. My Department will finalise the staffing schedule for the 2005-06 school year shortly and thereafter notify school boards of management.

Every effort is made to ensure that children with special educational needs receive an education appropriate to their needs and significant additional resources have been made available to schools in recent years to enable them to provide for children with such needs. In this regard, there are dedicated resources deployed to support children with special educational needs in the primary system, including more than 2,600 resource teachers, more than 1,500 learning support teachers, more than 1,000 teachers in special schools, more than 600 teachers in special classes, nearly 6,000 special needs assistants, more than €30 million on school transport for special needs pupils and more than €3 million towards specialised equipment and materials.

In the 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 in order 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.

In the light of the possible impact on small and rural schools, I have asked my Department to conduct a review of the general allocation model. 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. With regard to the second level system, the level of resources being made available to support students with special educational needs has also grown significantly in recent years. In the current school year, my Department has allocated approximately 1,388 whole-time equivalent teachers and 630 special needs assistants to second level schools and VECs to cater for pupils with special educational needs.

My Department established the Special Education Support Service, SESS, in September 2003 to manage, co-ordinate and develop a range of supports in response to identified training needs. The SESS, which is hosted in the Laois Education Centre, provides a nationwide service for teachers and special needs assistants. As part of its response to the growing demand from teachers for support and training, the SESS is developing teams of trainers to deliver training in four specific areas, autism, challenging behaviour, dyslexia and inclusion. This training will be delivered locally through the education centre network.

In addition to the measures I have outlined, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has been established as an independent statutory body with responsibilities set out in the National Council for Special Education (Establishment) Order 2003. The establishment of the NCSE is a further major step in ensuring that the requirements of children with special educational needs are identified and the necessary resources put in place in a timely and effective manner.

The issue of providing adequate resources to meet the special educational needs of relevant children will continue to be a priority for me. In this regard, my Department is continuing to take steps to develop the network of special educational provisions for children with special needs and I believe the steps taken in recent years and those in hand represent significant progress in the development of those services.