Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 237: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the way the €10 million allocated in Budget 2009 will be used to further special educational needs provision; if he will provide a breakdown of levels of allocated expenditure and the various initiatives expected to benefit from this allocation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10551/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The funding in question will be used to provide for an expansion of the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) so that all schools in the country will be covered by the service. The additional funding available to NEPS, which represents a 33% increase over the 2008 allocation, will facilitate the recruitment of up to 50 further psychologists. It is envisaged that this will bring the number of NEPS psychologists by the end of 2009 above the proposed 200 incorporated in the Programme for Government. This investment will significantly enhance the capacity of our educational psychologists to directly support schools in the development and delivery of appropriate interventions for children with special educational needs.

The funding is also being provided to the National Council for Special Education in 2009 to increase the Council's capacity in the move towards the full implementation of EPSEN. The additional funding will enable the Council to continue to improve, plan and co-ordinate the delivery of services for children with special needs.

In addition, provision has been made for further investment in teacher training in this area. This will ensure that teachers are provided with opportunities to access continuing professional development so that the learning and teaching needs of all pupils with Special Educational Needs continue to be met. The provision of high quality training ensures that pupils learning opportunities are enriched and learning outcomes are optimised.

An integrated approach is being adopted by the education and health sectors to target these additional resources to the areas of greatest need. Progress in both sectors will be kept under review by the Office for Disability & Mental Health and the Cross-Sectoral Team of the Departments of Education and Science, and Health and Children during 2009.