Mr. Frank Hanlon:

Just to give a flavour of the numbers for the Deputy, we have around 1,400 children availing of the home tuition scheme every year through the different schemes that Ms Mannion has mentioned. Obviously, the largest cohort are in the preschool area. We provide additional hours for children with autism to supplement the ECCE scheme or in cases where they not have an early intervention class place. That accounts for the vast majority of them. They do that for a couple of years until they are ready to go to school. There are around 400 children availing of home tuition for various periods due to mental health or anxiety issues. As Ms Mannion said, people avail of it when they have issues with attending school, usually for short periods.

There have to be multidisciplinary team meetings and there has to be planning in place for that child to return to the school before that home tuition can be granted again. We are very clear that that has to be short-term. There are a number on the medical scheme as well. Last year, 186 got some hours, maybe because a medical condition or illness. We had a case recently of a car crash. It is that kind of thing. It is compensatory to try to make up for any time lost in the previous year or the current year. There are also a small number we categorise as not having a placement who have special educational needs. This year, the figure is 69. The majority of those kids are in a preschool setting and are probably going to turn six during the school year but the parents wish to keep them in that setting until they are ready to go. We have others who are transitioning into other settings, such as special schools or special class settings. It is to prepare them to make that move into those settings.

As regards how it is approved, it is something we do collaboratively with the NCSE. If somebody applies for home tuition, it has to be assessed. It may need a report from a psychologist or potentially a GP. We work with parents and schools to make sure we can get that done as quickly as possible. Ultimately, the hours are sanctioned by the Department.