Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. My Department's policy is to provide for the inclusive education of autistic students in mainstream schools to the greatest extent possible.

As we know, autism is a spectrum condition, so some autistic students require relatively little support in school and are largely independent in their learning, while others require significant levels of support. There is therefore not one preferred educational approach for autistic students and rather there is a range of provision, sometimes described as a continuum, which takes into account the assessed educational needs of individual students. All students with special education needs are served by this continuum of provision, ranging from full-time enrolment in classes in mainstream schools with or without additional supports to a special class in a mainstream school to full-time enrolment in special schools.

This continuum is supported by significant investment by the Government at €2 billion or 20% of the total education spend. This funds the provision of additional teachers, special needs assistants and other supports required to enable children with special needs to access education. My Department's policy is that new special schools are be designated as "community special schools" and resourced to serve those children within the community who require special school placement rather than be limited to any specific category of disability.

The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has been asked to provide policy advice on the future of special schools and classes and the advice is expected before the end of the year, as I mentioned earlier to Deputy Ó Laoghaire. The evidence-based advice will take account of local and international perspectives, including the views of stakeholders. In the meantime, my Department will continue to support the current continuum of provision, which includes special class and special school places.

There is specialised provision for children in autism and there are now 1,836 special classes in place compared with only 548 in 2011, so there has already been significant progress.

See this speech in context