Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 192: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of special needs pupils in gaelscoileanna. [4852/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department does not hold records of the numbers of pupils with special educational needs in schools. These records are retained by the individual schools. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is responsible for the allocation of additional teaching supports and special needs assistant supports to children with special educational needs, SEN. The NCSE is in the process of developing systems which would result in comprehensive data on children with SEN in our schools being available in the future.

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 193: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of pupils availing of learning support teachers in gaelscoileanna. [4853/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department does not hold records of the numbers of pupils availing of learning support teaching in schools. These records are retained by the individual schools. All primary schools, including gaelscoileanna, have a general allocation of learning support and resource teachers, based on the number of pupils enrolled on a certain date, to enable them to cater for pupils with learning support needs. It is a matter for each school to identify the pupils that require this support in the context of the criteria outlined in Department circulars.