Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 932: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Science if a review has been carried out into whether the provision of laboratory assistants or time-tabled hours for preparation would benefit the teaching of science at second level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15167/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation 2006 to 2013 recommended that the provision of laboratory assistance for schools for science, which had been costed in the 2002 Report of the Task Force on Physical Sciences at €18.8m per annum, should be revisited.

Provision of assistants in this area would undoubtedly lead to demands for similar assistance across other areas of the curriculum where there is a strong practical component, and resources for this are not available at present. The availability of laboratory technicians has not been a universal feature of support for science teaching in second-level schools and, in some countries that do provide this type of resource, it is confined to certain types of schools.

It is estimated that the cost of providing laboratory assistance for science only would be of the order of €25m per annum while to provide such assistance for all subjects with a practical component, including ICT would cost c€122m. Funding of this nature is not available at present.