Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 232: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if the necessary facilities will be sanctioned, approved and put in place from the point of view of classroom, full-time resource teaching and special needs assistance for 13 year old twins with autism to enable them to begin secondary education at a school (details supplied) in Cork South-West on 1 September 2005; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21718/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has been 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 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 NCSE has confirmed to my Department that an application for additional resources for the pupils referred to by the Deputy has been received and is currently being processed. My Department's school planning section is also processing an application received from the management authority concerned for the provision of additional accommodation to accommodate the pupils in question.