Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 215: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of additional English language support teachers allocated to schools in the Dublin 15 area; the number of teachers full-time and equivalent allocated to each primary school and each post-primary school, following her recent announcement; the duration for which these teachers are appointed; if they are permanent appointments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8237/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The information is not readily available in the format sought by the Deputy and would take an inordinate amount of administrative time to compile. However I have asked my officials to provide the Deputy with information in relation to the extra posts recently allocated to schools in the Dublin area and this will be forwarded directly to her.

I recently announced the schools which are to benefit from the 200 extra language support posts provided for in the 2007 Estimates. The additional 200 teachers are part of the Government's commitment in Towards 2016 to provide an extra 550 language support teachers by 2009 and to reform the limit of two teachers per school. It is intended that a further 350 language support teachers will be provided between 2008 and 2009.

These extra 200 posts, which are allocated on a temporary/fixed term basis, will bring the total number of language support teachers in our schools to 1,450. These new resources are intended for schools with large numbers of pupils who do not have English as a first language. Under the revised arrangements, depending on the number of eligible pupils enrolled, schools may now have up to six language support teachers. Under current arrangements, the additional language support to an individual pupil is generally given for a period of two years. However, it is accepted that children have different levels of language and different levels of aptitude for language learning.

In order to ensure that schools can accurately and objectively assess the language requirement of children, my Department will be sending to primary schools, assessment materials which have been developed by Integrate Ireland Language and Training (IILT). The assessment materials will enable schools to ensure that the specific language requirements of children needing support are met in a targeted way. The IILT materials will also enable accurate initial and on-going assessment of the language proficiency of the child and his or her need for continued language support.