Government red tape to delay schooling for 2,000 special needs children

AROUND 2,000 pupils with special needs will have to wait months before getting access to resource teachers because of Government red tape.

The Department of Education has changed the criteria by which applications are assessed, causing a lengthy backlog. A number of applications received by the department in February have yet to be processed.

A review earlier found more than 600 applications for special education staff on behalf of 1,500 primary pupils were turned down. The review was undertaken at the request of Education Minister Noel Dempsey, in light of the huge increase in special education staff in the last few years. One-in-eight schoolchildren receives special education, four times the EU average.