Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 478: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will broaden the guidelines under which funding is granted for equipment for those students with special needs; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the guidelines are excluding a number of students who could use this assistance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15993/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department expects to spend in the region of €3m to facilitate the purchase of specialised equipment for use by pupils with special educational needs (SEN).

As the Deputy will be aware, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has taken over responsibility for processing resource applications for children with disabilities who have SEN. The NCSE's responsibilities include processing applications for equipment and making recommendations to my Department through its network of Special Education Needs Organisers.

There does not appear to be any significant difficulty with this scheme. However, I will request the NCSE to keep the scheme under review in the context of current and future applications.