Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 271: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the position regarding the provision of further special education resources for a school (details supplied) in County Louth; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18621/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware the general allocation of learning-support/resource teachers (LS/RTs) caters for pupils with learning support and high-incidence special educational needs. The system was constructed so that LS/RT allocations would be based on pupil numbers, taking into account the differing needs of the most disadvantaged schools and the evidence that boys have greater difficulties than girls in this regard.

The general allocation for the school referred to by the Deputy is 1.7 fulltime teaching posts. For the current school-year the school entered into a cluster arrangement with another local school to allow it retain 2 fulltime teaching posts. The schools propose to continue this arrangement for the 2006/2007 school year. This school also had sufficient resources for a third LS/RT post in the current year. For the 2006/2007 it appears that it will have 16.5 resource hours available in respect of 3 pupils with low-incidence special educational needs. This is insufficient to retain the services of a third LS/RT.

It has always been the case that schools that were in receipt of LS/RT or resource teacher support in respect of pupils with low-incidence special educational needs would lose teacher support (either full posts or part-time hours) when the pupils in respect of whom the hours were allocated left the school. In the circumstances I do not propose to restore LS/RTs to schools unless additional hours become available either in the school or in local schools that would be prepared to come together with sufficient hours to retain the post. The school authority may submit any new proposals in this regard to the Special Education Section of my Department.