Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 187: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason home tuition will be stopped for a person (details supplied) in County Offaly from 22 December 2005 despite the fact that this person still needs this extra assistance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29925/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I am most anxious that all children receive an education appropriate to their needs. The home tuition scheme is primarily intended to provide compensatory instruction for pupils who have a medical ailment that is likely to cause major disruption to their attendance at school. In this context, my Department provides home tuition grants in respect of pupils who cannot attend school at all or who are absent for a significant proportion of the school year.

My Department also sanctions home tuition in cases where children are awaiting a suitable school placement. My Department considers that school based education provision is the most appropriate intervention for all children and has discontinued the practice whereby children who are in full-time education provision would also be able to avail of home tuition grants.

The following dedicated resources are now deployed to support children with special educational needs in the primary system. There are now over 5,000 teachers in our primary schools working directly with children with special needs, including those requiring learning support. This compares to under 1,500 in 1998. One out of every five primary school teachers is now working specifically with children with special needs; there are nearly 6,000 special needs assistants; more than €30 million is spent on school transport for special needs pupils; and more than €3 million is provided towards specialised equipment and materials.

I can confirm that the pupil in question is being catered for in a special class for pupils with autism with a maximum pupil teacher ratio of 6:1 together with special needs assistant support. She has also been in receipt of a home tuition grant. My Department has written to the pupil's parents confirming its intention to discontinue the practice of sanctioning home tuition grants for pupils who are also in full-time education. This has also been communicated to the pupil's school.

In the interim, however, my Department has sanctioned the continuance of the grant for this pupil to the end of the current school term to allow further consideration to be given to the needs of the pupil. In this regard, the school has been requested to make contact with the local special education needs organiser, SENO, to discuss how the needs of the pupil can be met by the school.