For the past four years the special needs assistant allocations were published in July, which meant that hundreds of special needs assistants finished the school year without knowing whether they would have a job or an income the following September. Last year special needs assistants called off industrial action purely on the basis that the Minister and his Department had given a firm commitment that the allocation figures would be published much earlier this year. We are now halfway through the month of May. Will the Minister confirm when he or his Department will publish the special needs assistant allocation figures for this year?

I made an undertaking. We changed the way the budgetary arrangements were made. Previously, Ministers had to go back to the Cabinet to seek an additional budgetary allocation. That was recognised by us and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform as a very unsatisfactory way in which to plan. We made budgetary provision for this year and I expect to announce the allocations within days.