Some 71 per cent of teachers believe the primary and second-level curriculums are not appropriately designed for children with special needs, a survey has found.
The survey by Fine Gael also found 89 per cent of teachers said there were gaps in the service for children with special needs in their school. Fine Gael said this proved there were "massive deficiencies" in the area of special education.
Some 63 per cent of the teachers surveyed said the time they spent with pupils with special needs was "inadequate".
Some 73 per cent said assessments of children with special needs were not "readily available". Even when assessments were done, 63 per cent of teachers said they did not provide a satisfactory basis for appropriate education supports.
"Borderline children are identified as the big losers. They remain undiagnosed and unhelped," said Fine Gael's education spokesman, Mr Richard Bruton. The survey sampled the views of 150 primary and second-level teachers around the State. The teachers surveyed were unhappy with overall planning by the Department of Education in the area.
Some 77 per cent said the manner in which services for children with special needs are planned and delivered is inadequate.
Almost all - 99 per cent - of the teachers surveyed said more resources, including in-service training, were needed, and 58 per cent said the current level of in-service training was inadequate.
The survey follows an earlier survey of parents of special needs children. This found 65 per cent of parents had to pay for assessments of their children to be carried out privately because of a lack of availability of assessments from the Department.
Some 44 per cent of parents reported that hardly any of the additional supports identified in the assessments were made available. Only 6 per cent found the child's needs were almost entirely met.
Mr Bruton said the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, urgently needed to develop a coherent strategy for special education. "He has no database of children with special needs. He does not know how many children are not receiving support that has been diagnosed," he said.