§ Mr. Tom Clarkeasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish in the Official Report the information available to him on the numbers of children with special educational needs in each education authority in Northern Ireland; and what is his estimate, in each case, of the percentage of these children who are persons to whom the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons (Northern Ireland) Act 1978 applies.
§ Dr. Mawhinney[pursuant to his reply, 9 February 1987]: The latest available figures relate to pupils determined as hnadicapped at January 1986 and are as shown in the table.
Insufficient information is available to estimate accurately the percentage of the pupils included who would come within the scope of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons (NI) Act 1978.
Education and Library board Number of pupils Belfast 1,309 Western 821 North-Eastern 760 South-Eastern 860 Southern 447 Total 4,197