Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 216: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills if she will review the policy in regard to special education and the provision of resource hours to include Down's syndrome as a low incidence disability in its own right (details supplied). [21220/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy may be aware that my Department has put in place a range of teaching and care supports for pupils with special educational needs. These include the provision of additional teaching and/or special needs assistant support in schools which have enrolled pupils with special educational needs, including Down's Syndrome.

All primary schools have the benefit of additional Learning Support/Resource Teaching support through the General Allocation System. One of the benefits of the general allocation system is that it has put support teaching resources in place in schools on a more systematic basis and enables them to support pupils with high incidence special educational needs immediately. Some pupils with Down's Syndrome, based on their psychological assessment, have been assessed as having a high incidence special educational need.

Other pupils with Down's Syndrome fall within the low incidence range of special educational needs. The National Council for Special Education will sanction additional teaching hours where a primary school pupil has been assessed as being within the low incidence category of special need. The General Allocation Model is only available in primary schools. Second level schools which have enrolled pupils with special educational needs are also allocated additional teaching hours. The number of additional teaching hours sanctioned ranges from one-and-a-half hours to five hours per week depending on the pupil's special educational needs.

Special needs assistant posts are allocated to schools to support students with care needs. Funding has been made available for specialist furniture and/or assistive technology if this is required. My Department can also fund special school transport arrangements.

I have no plans to alter the current policy for the allocation of special educational needs supports.