Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State mentioned the home tuition scheme run by the Department, offering 20 hours of one-on-one tuition. For the past five years with the grant allocated to parents, there was a certain discretion. For example, many parents would have used four or five hours in a group setting within preschools in particular. There seems to have been a change in the Department's policy as letters have been sent recently to people in receipt of the home tuition grant stating that using part of the grant for a group setting to develop social skills is not allowed. The Department has asked parents to refund any element not used for a one-to-one basis. I do not expect the Minister of State to answer the question today as I do not want to put him on the spot but he should revert to the officials and make inquiries about it. The discretion was always there and there was a benefit in using some of that grant for group settings rather than one-to-one sessions. It seems to be a recent change.

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