Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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322. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to restore the position of resource teachers for Travellers in view of the fact that they are now recognised as a separate ethnic group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54468/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The policy of my Department in relation to Traveller education is underpinned by the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2017 – 2021 which was launched by my colleague the Minister Justice and Equality in June 2017. The strategy was developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders including Traveller representative groups.

Education provision for Traveller children in school has been mainstreamed in accordance with my Department’s policy in this area.  To assist with full implementation of mainstreaming, a number of Traveller-specific supports have been retained in the system.  These include 141 additional learning support teaching posts and a higher level of pupil capitation to support some 11,000 identified Traveller pupils in primary and post-primary education.  The current cost of this additional provision is approximately €10 million annually.

It is important to note that additional resources provided in the education system are allocated on the basis of identified individual educational need rather than that of ethnic or cultural background.