Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Following the review, I am not aware of the individual number of tutors who would qualify. That is the reason parents have been given until the end of this school year to find somebody appropriate. The range of people acceptable is quite broad. Hopefully, those parents will be able to get somebody suitable.

In regard to the education of children with autism, significant advances have been made in the provision of special classes and the mainstreaming of children, where appropriate, in our schools. There are 181 special classes for children with autism, 16 early intervention classes, five special classes for children on the Aspergers spectrum and 12 special ABA schools as part of the pilot project. Of those, 20 have been funded in the past year. Before Christmas we offered incentives to administrative principals of schools who would be willing to take on an autistic unit within their schools. I do not know if the Deputy has visited any of the schools which are custom built. The two classroom units are very attractive. The staffing complement is generous in that there is one teacher for six children with at least one special needs assistant and, if necessary, there can be a special needs assistant per child. That structure is working well. That system is the preferred approach of the Department. It has the advantage of enabling those children to be in a special unit that is attached to a school where their siblings may be and where they are with their peers. There are qualified teachers who use a range of different methodologies. We do not accept that any one exclusive intervention is appropriate for all students. This is something that is supported by the autism task force which recognises the need for a range of resources and approaches to meet the unique needs of children on the autistic spectrum. We are developing special classes attached to the schools. It is a priority to encourage more schools to take them on as this structure offers the greatest opportunity for children to have their individuals needs met rather than using one particular type of method.

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