Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton announced a new model for the allocation of extra teaching resources.

Following a proposal developed by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) Working Group in 2013 and a successful pilot last year, the new model will come into effect in September.

The new model will mean:

• Students will no longer have to wait to access extra teaching as a diagnosis is no longer necessary; long waiting lists exist for a diagnosis.
• Students won’t have to be “labelled” with a disability just to receive extra teaching support.
• Parents will no longer have to pay large sums of money for a private diagnosis to bypass waiting lists.
• Schools will be able to support students as soon as difficulties begin to emerge as they won’t have to wait for an individual diagnosis and application for resources.
• Schools will have less paperwork and administration without the need for individual applications for resources to the NCSE -  of which there were an average of 17,000 a year.

Speaking at the announcement, Minister Bruton said the model "is aimed at ensuring that we can deliver better outcomes for children with special educational needs, and eliminate unfairness and other problems which exist in the current model".

"The €18m of additional funding for this specific measure, and indeed the €1.5b which the Government spends on this area overall, demonstrate our commitment to this crucial area."

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The NCSE welcomed the announcement, saying the model provides for "a better and more equitable way of allocating these extensive resources".

Eamon Stack, NCSE Chairman said: “We are delighted that the Department of Education and Skills agreed with our proposal for change and developed this new model for allocating resources, which will benefit students, parents and schools.”

The NCSE's 2013 report can be read here.