Gerard Murphy (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 241: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if a person (details supplied) in County Cork will receive a special needs assistant. [18804/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to advise the Deputy that a full-time special needs assistant has been approved to the school to cater for the special care needs of four pupils including the pupil in question. A letter confirming this arrangement issued to the school on the 25 February last.

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 242: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the difficulties from the implementation of the general allocation model for special education needs teachers for young junior teachers in larger schools; if this anomaly was an unintended outcome; if the present low-incidence special needs posts will be continued as permanent posts where the low-incidence hours at schools so warrant. [18811/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware the review of the general allocation system has now been completed. The new model replaces that which was notified to schools in June 2004, which has been reviewed to take account of difficulties that it may have caused for smaller schools.

The introduction of this new system will involve the provision of an estimated additional 340 permanent posts in primary schools from September next. A further 320 posts are being provided on a temporary basis to facilitate the transition to the new system and to ensure continuity of service for children who have previously been given an individual allocation until those children leave the primary school system. 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.

The advantages of using a general allocation model are as follows: 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; and it will automatically adjust a school's general allocation on the basis of changing enrolment.

My Department has devised school clusters in respect of allocations to be made under the general allocation system. This information has been notified to schools, where appropriate, along with the details of each school's individual allocation.

In relation to the specific issue raised by the Deputy, my Department has advised schools that where they currently have a permanent resource teacher and where they have adequate hours to warrant the continuation of a full-time post through a combination of general allocation hours and-or low incidence hours and-or transitional hours for the coming school year, they may retain the existing teacher for the school year without the status of the teacher having to change.

My Department is finalising a circular for schools which will contain detailed information on how the new system will operate. This circular will issue before the end of the current school year.