Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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178. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 505 of 6 May 2015, and notwithstanding the listing of numbers of teaching and teaching support staff and additional teaching posts in the said parliamentary question reply, if she will state, for the record of Dáil Éireann, whether or not she will immediately reverse the 15% cut in resource teaching hours imposed upon individual students with special education needs in 2012; if she will restore the resource teaching hours allocated to each individual student with special education needs, to the levels pertaining in 2010, which are the levels recommended by the State Education Resource Centre report; her views on the resource teaching hours currently being allocated to students with special education needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18790/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that there are now more additional resource teachers/learning support teachers in our schools than at any time previously.

Over 11,000 resource and learning support teaching posts are currently allocated to schools, which is the highest level of resource teaching allocations that we have ever had. It will ensure that children with special educational needs can continue to participate in education and be supported in a manner appropriate to their needs.

The number of resource teachers that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) may allocate to schools to support children with low incidence special educational needs has increased to 6705 for the coming 2015/16 school year, which is an increase on the 6225 posts which were available for allocation in 2014/15.

I have previously advised the Deputy that my Department is currently working to devise a pilot of a new model for delivering teaching resources to schools to support students with special needs, which has been recommended by the NCSE.

In taking the decision to conduct a pilot of the new model, I have been guided by the advice of the NCSE Working Group report, which recommended sufficient time be allowed for consultation before the new model is implemented.

I therefore do not propose to amend the existing allocation process, pending the completion of the pilot project and the introduction of a new allocation model.