Special needs resource teachers may not be able to deliver a useful service under present conditions, a report from the Irish Association of Teachers in Special Education (IATSE) has found.

"A large investment is being made in supplying resource teachers to support integration of children in mainstream education." However the report concluded that these teachers are "not receiving sufficient support to allow them to operate efficiently".

The IATSE report follows a national survey of special needs resource teachers in primary schools.

Only 15 per cent of respondents to the IATSE survey said they had received certified training in special education, while just 21 per cent had training as a remedial teacher. Some 89 per cent of respondents said they received no induction training as a special needs teachers. Although IT use has been identified as of major benefit in special needs education, 76 per cent of respondents said they did not have adequate familiarity with the relevant software.

The report concluded that it was "a cause of grave concern" that adequate support structures had not been put in place for special needs resource teachers.