Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I am pleased to have been given the opportunity by Senator Moloney to clarify the position in regard to the provision of assistive technology support for children with special educational needs. The assistive technology scheme is administered by the Department of Education and Skills and has a specific purpose, as set out Circular M14/05, which is to provide assistive technology support to children who have been diagnosed as having serious physical or communicative disabilities to the degree which makes ordinary communication through speech and-or writing impossible for them. The original aim of the assistive technology scheme was to provide equipment for visually and hearing impaired children to access the curriculum. In recent years, this has been extended to also provide other equipment for pupils with physical and communicative disabilities.

The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, through its network of local special educational needs organisers, SENOs, is responsible for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports. SENOs also make recommendations to the Department where assistive technology is required.

In order to qualify for equipment under the assistive technology scheme, a child must have been diagnosed with a physical or communicative disability and must also have a recommendation in a professional assessment that the equipment is essential in order to allow the child to access the curriculum. It must also be clear that the existing IT equipment in the school is insufficient to meet the child's needs. In such circumstances, the NCSE may recommend the provision of assistive technology support and a grant for the recommended equipment may be paid to the school by the Department of Education and Skills.

The policy of the Department in regard to the assistive technology scheme is that it does not normally provide for communication devices, which have a general application other than a specific educational application, for which funding is provided for under the HSE aids and appliances scheme. The Department's scheme provides for equipment which is specifically required to access the educational curriculum, as opposed to general communication devices.

In regard to the pupil in question, I can advise that funding has been sanctioned under the Department's assistive technology scheme for this pupil towards the cost of a range of equipment and software. In September 2011, the Department sanctioned a grant of €1,525 to the school concerned for the purchase of a laptop computer, associated software and a printer-scanner for this pupil. I understand that an application was also made to the NCSE for the provision of Eyegaze technology. However, the NCSE did not make a recommendation to the Department for the provision of this equipment on the basis that this is a communication device.

I wish to clarify that grants for communication devices are provided under the aids and appliances scheme which is operated by the HSE. Funding is dispersed by local HSE services to local community care clinics or voluntary agencies for this purpose.

Applications for equipment of this nature should therefore be made to the HSE aids and appliances scheme.

I would be interested if the Senator could inform me whether she is aware that such an application has been made to the HSE.