Dempsey hits back on special needs funding

MINISTER for Education Noel Dempsey yesterday defended his track record on special needs education as parents protested about cutbacks.

Strongly rejecting claims of cutbacks in the provision of resources for children with special needs, he pointed to dramatic funding increases in recent years.

€Funding for special needs education, he said, had increased from €635,000 in 1998 to 3.26 million this year.