Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 388: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if it is standard procedure for parents to be notified in advance of special educational needs assessments being carried out on their children within the school place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36295/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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In the case of the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, of my Department, psychologists always obtain written parental or guardianship consent prior to undertaking educational psychological assessments. A similar procedure obtains where children are assessed by panel psychologists under the scheme for commissioning of psychological assessments, SPCA, which NEPS administers. Best practice requires the prior consent of parents or guardians where an assessment of a child is undertaken within the school by a professional person employed by an external organisation.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 389: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of special needs assistants employed in a school (details supplied) in County Kildare; the number of students these special needs assistants cater for; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36286/05]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 390: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of students attending a school (details supplied) in County Kildare; the number who have special educational needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36287/05]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 391: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of pupils with special needs that have been withdrawn from a school (details supplied) in the past five years; the reasons which were given for such withdrawals. [36288/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 389 to 391, inclusive, together.

Four special needs assistants are employed in the school in question supporting the care needs of six pupils. The school's enrolment at 30 September 2005 is 611 pupils. A new general allocation system has been announced under which schools have been provided with resource teaching hours, based on their enrolment figures, to cater for children with high incidence special needs such as dyslexia and those with learning support needs. Under the new system, the school in question has a specific teaching allocation of four full-time teaching posts and ten part-time hours. In addition, the school has the equivalent of two temporary teaching posts to support the needs of pupils with low incidence special educational needs. The teaching posts being provided under the new general allocation scheme are designed to ensure that each school has enough resource teaching hours to meet the needs of children with high incidence special educational needs. Each school has been allocated enough resource teaching hours to provide its pupils with support appropriate to their needs. It is a matter for each school to determine the pupils with high incidence special education and learning support needs that will receive this support. My Department, therefore, does not have details of the number of pupils receiving such support within the school.

My Department does not retain a record of pupils who are withdrawn from schools. I am, however, aware that one pupil was withdrawn from the school recently by the parents. The National Educational Welfare Board, NEWB, is the national agency with responsibility for encouraging and supporting regular school attendance. Specifically, the NEWB was established to ensure every child attends school regularly, or otherwise receives an education or participates in training. The local education welfare officer and special educational needs organiser are liaising with the parents of the pupil in question with a view to identifying a suitable school placement.