Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 455: To ask the Minister for Education and Science, further to Parliamentary Question No. 401 of 9 October 2007, if she is stating that gaelscoileanna may use their learning support teachers to teach Irish to children who need such support. [23828/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The purpose of the general allocation system which was implemented in all primary schools in September 2005 is to provide these schools with learning support/resource teachers to meet the needs of children with high-incidence special educational needs, including those children with a specific learning disability in the areas of reading, writing, reasoning or mathematics.

Learning support teachers should be used to support children who are low achievers in English reading or mathematics. The Learning Support Guidelines, published by my Department, provide guidance to schools on the criteria to be used in identifying children who may be of need for such support — priority should be given to those children who perform at or below the 10th percentile. In the gaelscoileanna context, Learning Support teachers could also, having met the needs of the low achiever pupils, provide some early intervention support to children who may have persistent difficulty in Irish despite the use of continuous differentiated teaching by the class teacher in respect of the pupil(s).

It is a matter for the individual school to use its professional judgement to identify pupils with high incidence special education and learning support needs that will receive this support and to use the resources available to them to intervene at the appropriate level with such pupils. My Department's circular SP ED 02/05 provides guidance and advice on the manner in which schools should use the resources that have been allocated to them to best effect. A copy of the circular was provided to all primary schools and is also published on my Department's website www.education.gov.ie.