Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 484: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason resource teaching assistance will not be offered to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; if a review can or will be undertaken as a matter of urgency in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16536/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, my Department provides a range of teaching and care supports for children of school-going age with special educational needs, including children with Down Syndrome. The precise level of support is determined by the special educational needs of the particular child.

Children with Down Syndrome are entitled to additional provision in school, either under the terms of the general allocation system of teaching supports if the educational psychological assessment places the child in the high incidence disability category or through an allocation of additional resources if the child is assessed as being within the low incidence category of special need, as defined by my Department's circular. In circumstances where a Down Syndrome child has other associated needs and would fall into the low incidence disability category, this would automatically attract additional resource teaching support. Such applications are made to the local special educational needs organiser by the school.

It is my understanding that the needs of the child referred to by the Deputy fall to be catered for from the general allocation system of learning support and resource teaching (LSRT) support. The school in question has a general allocation of 1 LSRT post. It is open to the school to identify the pupils with learning support and high-incidence special education needs that will receive this supplementary teaching support. The school can use its professional judgement to decide how these hours are divided between different children in the school, to ensure that all their needs are met. My Department issued a guidance circular to schools which contained detailed information on how the new system operates.

The general allocation system was implemented with effect from September 2005 and it is intended that it will be reviewed after three years of operation.