Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 394: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason a person (details supplied) in County Galway is not entitled to 2.5 hours resource teaching on a one to one basis; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that 2005-06 will be this person's last year at national school and that the professional assessment is that they need one-to-one resource teaching urgently for the final year at national school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22991/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, a new scheme for allocating resource teachers to schools to cater for the needs of children with high incidence special needs and learning support needs, was announced last month. The reason for the new scheme is simple. Children with special needs, such as dyslexia or mild learning difficulties, are found in almost every school. It makes sense then that every school should have a number of resource teaching hours based on the number of pupils in the school.

The special educational needs, SEN, of the pupil in question fall within the high incidence disability categories and his needs can, therefore, be catered for from within the school's general allocation. This school's teaching allocation under the new general allocation model is 12.5 part time hours. It is a matter for each school to determine the pupils with high incidence special education and learning support needs who will receive this support. Each school will have enough resource teaching hours to provide its pupils with a level of support appropriate to their needs.

The school can use its professional judgment to decide how these hours are divided between different children in the school, to ensure that all their needs are met. Research shows that some children with special needs will respond better with one to one tuition. Others, however, do better when taught in small groups. It is often best for resource teachers to work with children in the classroom rather than taking them away to separate rooms because the children then have to catch up work done by the rest of the class in their absence. The type of response needed depends on the child.