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	Extra services would cost &euro;600,000</h2>
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		Just a fraction of the &euro;3.5 million in expenses spent by the Taoiseach&rsquo;s department in the first six months of the year could greatly improve the educational services offered to children with&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_person=Down%20syndrome&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer !important; outline: none !important;">Down syndrome</a>, an Independent TD has claimed.</p>
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		More than doubling the one-to-one educational services provided to them would cost a &ldquo;minuscule&rdquo; &euro;600,000 but would have a major impact, said Finian McGrath.</p>
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		The TD who is part of the technical group in the D&aacute;il has put a Bill before the House proposing that all students with Down syndrome receive the maximum amount of resource teaching hours available for children with a disability.</p>
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		At the moment, Down syndrome students with a moderate disability get about two resource hours; those with a mild disability have no guaranteed resource allocation, but can receive other learning supports.</p>
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		The maximum allocation for any learning disability is four hours and 15 minutes a week. His proposed Bill would raise the entitlement of any Down student to this level.</p>
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		&ldquo;I am very angry when I see &euro;3.5 million being spent on expenses in the first six months in the Taoiseach&rsquo;s department. On the costings we have, my legislation would cost &euro;600,000,&rdquo; Mr McGrath said.</p>
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		&ldquo;They told me they can&rsquo;t find the money but they could find the money for expenses. The gap in the cost between the two [resource hours allocation] is about &euro;600,000. For this minuscule amount of money you could turn around children&rsquo;s lives.&rdquo;</p>
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		<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_organisation=Down%20Syndrome%20Ireland&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer !important; outline: none !important;">Down Syndrome Ireland</a>&nbsp;supported the Bill and had advised Mr McGrath, who has an adult child with Down syndrome.</p>
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		&ldquo;Research will show it would be of immense benefit for the students and gives them a strong base going forward in the education system,&rdquo; said Pat Clarke, chief executive of Down Syndrome Ireland.</p>
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		&ldquo;They will be more independent and less dependent in society.&rdquo; He said studies showed that children who didn&rsquo;t get the resource hours tended to regress and often end up in the moderate disability range.</p>
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		Mr McGrath&rsquo;s Bill was put before the House in the last few days before the summer recess.</p>
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		<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/bill-proposes-new-supports-for-students-with-down-syndrome-1.1507536">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/bill-proposes-new-supports-for-students-with-down-syndrome-1.1507536</a></p>
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