I wish to refer to the point made by Deputy Finian McGrath on children with Down's syndrome. In light of the Department's announcement that it will not be proceeding with the revised model for allocating special needs teaching hours and resources, will the Tánaiste ensure that as of this coming September children diagnosed with mild, as opposed to moderate, Down's syndrome will be granted a specific number of resource hours rather than being specifically excluded, as they are currently?

It could be a Topical Issue matter also.

The question on children with Down's syndrome is more a matter for detailed discussion with the Minister for Education and Skills. The Minister is interested in seeing additional resources directed towards children who need supports and resource hours in school. Having secured an additional 1,700 new appointments, including approximately 350 special needs assistants, in primary and secondary schools this year, I certainly hope circumstances will improve as additional resources are allocated.

With regard to PPS numbers and the primary online database, my understanding — the Deputy may ask detailed questions of the Minister and raise this at committee level for detailed discussion — is that the model in question is the general model of using data to help with the allocation of resources. The good news is that as the economy has been improving, we have been building new schools and allocating significant additional resources for education. I expect this will continue.