Gilmore accused of misleading Dáil over special needs resources

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore was accused of misleading the Dáil after he insisted there would be no reductions in resources for children with special needs.

But Opposition TDs said children were facing cuts to teaching support and that cuts in teaching hours would hit the most vulnerable.

Mr Gilmore said the number of teachers and assistants were not being reduced but the number of children presenting with special needs was increasing by 10%.

The Labour leader faced down shouts from the opposition benches as well as claims from an Independent TD that he was misleading the Dáil. But he replied: “Neither the financial allocation for special education needs nor the personnel allocation for special education needs is being reduced.”

The Government’s defence came after the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) this week announced a cut in teaching hours from September for children with special needs.

Mr Gilmore added there were 9,950 resource teachers in schools and the number of special needs assistants was 10,575. Two in five teachers in schools were dedicated to special needs, he said.

However, he explained: “What has been happening is the numbers presenting for special needs assistants and for resource teachers have been increasing. For example, last year the increase was approximately 10%.”

He said the NCSE had told schools to examine the best way in which resources were used in schools. This year’s budget of €1.3 billion for special education needs was the same as 2011, he added.

I'm puzzled. Cuts to SNA hours, they're saying no reduction in numbers but my SNA friend & 3 of her colleagues are being laid off in Sept?

— Eleanor Fitzsimons (@EleanorFitz) June 20, 2013

Fianna Fáil education spokesman Charlie McConalogue hit out at Mr Gilmore and questioned the Government’s defence. “If we were to apply the Tánaiste’s logic to pensioners, for example, and say that because there are now more pensioners but the budget will remain the same, every pensioner would have to take a 12% cut from September, nobody would agree that that was not anything but a cut.”

The TD said the cut in support hours was “an indefensible mistake”.

Bracing myself to do battle yet again - annual #SNA cuts timed so we spend the summer worrying bout our special needs kids - nice one ta!

— Ann Brehony (@AnnBrehony) June 19, 2013

Mr McConalogue said that children with autism, severe emotional disturbance, severe learning disabilities and assessed syndromes would have their special teaching hours cut by half an hour per week from four and a quarter hours to three and three-quarter hours, starting from next September. This would be more than an hour and a quarter less per week than the same student received in 2011 and constituted an overall reduction of 25%.