Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 14: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on the efficacy of the inclusion policy operated by him for children with cerebral palsy and who have learning, physical and sensory needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10025/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The policy of my Department is to promote the principle of inclusive education for children with special educational needs.

My Department, either directly or through the National Council for Special Education, provides for a range of supports in schools to enable them to cater for students with special educational needs. This may include additional Resource Teachers, Special Needs Assistants and specialist equipment, depending on a child's level of assessed needs.

I am advised by the NCSE that the majority of mainstream schools now enrol children with special educational needs and I am further advised by my Department's Inspectorate that the majority of children with physical disabilities, including cerebral palsy, now attend mainstream schools. This is evidence that the policy of inclusion is operating successfully.

Where children with special needs also require physical or sensory therapy supports, this support is provided by the Health Service Executive, and may be provided in schools.

For children who have such complex needs that a special school or special class placement may be required, this is also provided for by my Department.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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Question 15: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the disproportionate impact that the decoupling of learning support and resource hours will have in small schools especially on foot of changes to the pupil-teacher ratio; if he will review this policy decision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10019/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The new arrangements incorporate a long overdue updating of the GAM (learning support) allocation for all schools. This inevitably involves changes to existing clustering arrangements whereby a teacher is shared between schools. A further change is that schools in any locality are being empowered to cluster and arrange their GAM resources in a manner that best suits their local needs. This should be completed by schools in March. There are also new and separate arrangements for how resource hours for individual pupils are converted into teaching posts in schools. The requirement for resource hours in a school varies from year to year depending on the number, if any, of its pupils with autism etc. Small schools generally have a lower requirement for resource hours. The new arrangements take account of the later timescale for the allocation of these hours necessitated by individual assessment by the NCSE.

All of the changes are designed to enable a more efficient operation of the teacher redeployment and recruitment and to reduce the impact of travel time between schools where teachers are shared.

My Department will be working with schools and the relevant education partners to ensure that the new arrangements operate as efficiently as possible. As the process proceeds this work can take account of any appropriate local arrangements that might be made to further optimise travel arrangements.