47 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Education the reason information is not readily available in her Department in relation to the simple matter of quantifying the number of art teachers in our second level system further to her reply to Parliamentary Question No. 81 of 30 April 1997; the reason two out of four parts of the question were totally ignored in the reply, in particular the extent of art teaching by non-art trained teachers; and if she will make a statement on the reason for the seeming chaos in relation to the management and monitoring of this highly specialised teaching activity by her Department. [12321/97]

In my reply of 30 April 1997 I stated that certain of the information requested by the Deputy was not readily available and I set out the criteria for appointment as a permanent teacher of art.

As the Deputy will be aware, teachers are employed by the authorities of individual schools. While my Department maintains individual teacher records for purposes of recognition and salary, these records are not fully computerised and therefore aggregrate details are not readily available.

I should say that maintenance of this information on a computerised basis is one of a range of enhancements being developed at present.