James Breen (Clare, Independent)
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I raise this matter as a result of a reply to a question I tabled last week to the Minister for Education and Science. She did everything but answer my question on that occasion. She kicked for touch on the issue, and when the Minister kicks for touch in answering a question, she would do justice to O'Gara or O'Driscoll. Many Ministers do the same.

Ennis has a population of approximately 26,000. I request autism facilities in a mainstream school in the town of Ennis. Ennis has a catchment area of 35,000. If it had mainstream autism facilities for children and teenagers those services would be available within five miles of the town. We have a first class autism facility in the other half of my parish in Inagh, and that is operating very successfully.

The Department gave 70% funding last year for the building and the community raised the other 30%. Six pupils attend that school. They come from Ennis, Kilmurray, Miltown Malbay and Toonagh. Ennis is 14 miles from Inagh and we need an autism facility in a mainstream school in Ennis where children suffering from autism can mingle with the other students in the school in a natural environment. We have facilities in Ennis for autism but there are no special schools. It is a swipe at the most vulnerable in our society that the Minister for Education and Science will not give a guarantee that autism facilities will be provided in Ennis.

There is another matter in Ennis which concerns the Minister's Department. Eleven pupils currently attend St. Michael's school for special needs children, but this school will be closed by 2006, although the Department of Health and Children has denied that. The school is not taking any more enrolments and when that happens it means the school is being phased out. I ask the Minister not to allow that to happen. The children attending that school have 14 hours education and tuition weekly. The school now wants them to attend two and a half hours of intense training, but that is not acceptable for children ranging in age from two and a half to six years.

If the Minister of State intends to give me the same reply as the one I got from the Minister for Education and Science last week, I ask him not to read it out because I do not want to hear it. If he has something positive to say, however, or if he can tell me that the Minister will provide the facilities I am requesting for Ennis, I will listen to the reply.

Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)
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I welcome the opportunity to clarify the position of the Department of Education and Science in respect of education provision for pupils with autism in the Ennis area of County Clare. The Department of Education and Science supports the education of individual students with autism in various primary and second level schools throughout the country. The precise model of provision made available will depend on the assessed needs of the pupils involved. Some students are capable of attending ordinary classes on an integrated basis, with resource teacher and-or special needs assistant support. In other cases, placement in special dedicated classes or units attached to the school may be the more appropriate response. Such special classes operate at significantly reduced pupil-teacher ratios. A class catering for children on the autistic spectrum would be supported at a pupil-teacher ratio of 6:1. The Department also supports arrangements whereby second level students attached to these special classes are facilitated in attending ordinary subject classes on an integrated basis wherever possible.

In the primary school system, there are three special classes for pupils with autism attached to two special schools in Ennis. There are a further three special autism classes attached to three mainstream primary schools in County Clare, one of which is in the Ennis area. All six classes can cater for a maximum of six pupils with autism and are generally staffed by one teacher and a minimum of two special needs assistants. The Deputy may be interested to know that the Department of Education and Science is considering an application for the establishment of an autistic unit at St. Senan's primary school, Kilrush, County Clare. Officials from the Department are liaising with the national educational psychological service in this regard and a decision will be conveyed to the school in question as soon as this process has been completed.

I assure the Deputy that the Department, as a matter of general policy, is favourably disposed to making educational provision for children with autism, as and when required. The details of each application must to be carefully examined, having regard to such matters as the assessment reports for the individual children, the suitability of proposed accommodation from an educational and health and safety perspective and the proximity of existing autism-specific provision in the area. Should an application for additional autism provision be received from a primary school in the Ennis area, it will be considered in this context.

The Minister for Education and Science is aware of the emerging need for the development of appropriate second level education services for children with autism in Ennis who will be due to progress from the primary system in the coming years. Organising such provision is a significant task of the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. The latter was established as an independent statutory body with responsibilities as set out in the National Council for Special Education (Establishment) Order 2003. With effect from 1 January 2005, the NCSE through local special educational needs organisers, SENOs, will process resource applications for children with special educational needs. Where a pupil with special educational needs enrols in a primary or post-primary school, it is open to the school to apply to the local SENO for additional teaching support and-or special needs assistant support for the pupil.

The Department is confident that the establishment of the National Council for Special Education will prove of major benefit in ensuring that all children with special educational needs receive the support they require when and where they require it. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter.