Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 464: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she has undertaken an assessment of the IQ limits which she has used in her directive for the weighted system of support for children with special needs; her views on the view expressed by many teachers that the IQ standard which she has set for specialised individual education hours to be triggered for a child are too low; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12844/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As I have informed the House on previous occasions, my Department has introduced a general allocation model of additional resources to all primary schools for children in the high incidence categories of special educational needs. This enables an automatic response on the part of schools to any child deemed to be in need of additional teaching resources. In the case of children within these categories, the intelligence quotient is not the sole issue that determines whether or not a child can access additional support in school.

Of course, it may take some time in the case of young children in school for the extent of their needs to emerge. The needs of such children are normally kept under review by the school and it is for the school authorities in conjunction with the various support agencies to make application for psychological and other assessments to determine if a child falls into the category of low incidence. Subsequently, the school authorities can make application to the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, for additional resources in the case of a child diagnosed as being within any of the low incidence categories of disability.

The ranges of assessed intellectual ability associated with the categories of special need identified by my Department as low incidence are in line with the bands identified and described in the report of the special education review committee, 1993. They are also in line with the most frequently used psychometric instruments.

While the system of provision will be kept under constant review by my Department and by the NCSE, I am confident that provision is being provided for all children in school with special needs.