Dempsey pledges 350 extra staff for special needs pupils

THE 7,000 schoolchildren waiting months for resource teachers and other special needs staff will have an extra 350 staff from the start of the next school year, Education Minister Noel Dempsey said yesterday.

The 350 special needs posts he has approved at an estimated cost of €15 million will add to the 2,600 resource teachers already working in primary schools.

By next September, he said, every school will have permanent special needs staff to cater for children with learning difficulties.