Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 1295: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her policy regarding the further development of the CABS education system for children in the autistic spectrum (details supplied). [1598/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is currently funding 11 autism-specific facilities, which are operating on a pilot basis. Some of those facilities provide an applied behavioural analysis, ABA, model of response, which is one of a range of models of approach to the education of children with autism. Approval has also been given for the establishment of a further three such facilities.

In addition to the autism specific facilities outlined above, my Department also provides the following dedicated facilities for the education of children with autism. Some 159 special classes for children with autism, attached to special schools and mainstream schools, have been created. Some 15 pre-school classes for children with autism have been established, and five special classes for children with Asperger's syndrome have been created.

Furthermore, my Department may sanction home tuition grants for children with autism for whom a home-based ABA programme is considered appropriate or in cases where such children are awaiting an appropriate school placement.

My Department's preferred approach to the provision of appropriate education for all children, including children with autism, is through the primary and post-primary school network, whether through placement in mainstream classes, in special classes or in special schools. My Department would also support an eclectic approach in regard to the education of children with autism where a range of teaching methods are available, for example, treatment and education of autistic and related communication-handicapped children, TEACH, ABA, and picture exchange communication system, PECS.

While the preferred approach of my Department is to provide appropriate provision through the recognised primary and post-primary school network, it will continue, in conjunction with the National Council for Special Education, to consider applications that may be received for the establishment of further stand-alone autism facilities. Those applications will be carefully examined and considered on a case-by-case basis, and account will be taken of several factors, such as the availability of appropriate school-based provision in a particular area, before any decisions are made.

On a more general point, my Department has developed a strategy designed to meet the continuing professional development needs of all school personnel working with children with special educational needs, including children with autism. The increased training provision is specifically designed to address the complex range and variety of training needs in the area of special education needs.

Specifically, since the strategy was introduced it has produced a major expansion of the range of postgraduate professional training programmes; the introduction of a range of new training programmes to provide a mix of intensive induction training and more advanced training in specific areas; and the establishment of the Special Education Support Service, SESS, in September 2003.

The major increase in postgraduate training places will further increase the number of teachers who have already developed their skills over previous years under the strategy. It is important to note that the new diploma programmes are aimed not only at providing development and support at individual teacher level, but, crucially, at whole-school staff level. That ensures the optimum learning outcomes for Special Education Needs, SEN, students.

My Department also funds the development of an ABA training programme in Trinity College Dublin, and it supported the participation of 12 teachers on the course in 2003-04. The successful participants are now available as classroom teachers and, more importantly, as a further training resource for other teachers in this area. Short-term induction programmes in SEN are provided annually by several teacher training colleges, usually two or three courses per college, catering for up to 120 teachers.

The Special Education Support Service, SESS, was established to manage, co-ordinate and develop a range of supports in response to identified training needs, including autism. Hosted in Cork Education Support Centre, the SESS, which is funded by my Department, has recently undergone a significant expansion in available resources in response to the education and development needs of teachers and other school staff working with students with special educational needs.

In addition, and as indicated earlier, the National Council for Special Education is now operational. A specific function of the NCSE, through its network of local special educational needs organisers, SENOs, is to identify appropriate educational placements for all children with special educational needs, including children with autism.

In the circumstances I am confident that the steps that I have outlined above, and those in hand, especially the establishment of the NCSE, will ensure that an appropriate educational provision can be put in place for all children with special needs, including children with autism, in a timely manner.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 1296: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of educational assessments of children with special needs that have been carried out in the past 12 months in respect of which the State has paid for the cost; and if that level of service is adequate to ensure that all children with special needs have the nature of their learning difficulty identified at the earliest possible opportunity. [1599/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I assume that when the Deputy refers to educational assessments, he is referring to psychological assessments and other professional assessments undertaken by professionals who are not employed directly by schools.

All primary and post-primary schools have access to psychological assessments, either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, or through the scheme for commissioning psychological assessments, SCPA, full details of which are available on my Department's website.

In the school year 2003-04, NEPS psychologists carried out a total of 5,024 assessments — not all assessments involved full cognitive IQ assessments. In the same school year, a total of 3,611 assessments were completed under the terms of SCPA, administered and paid for by NEPS.

The figures for 2004-05 are not yet available, but I am arranging for that information to be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as it becomes available.

Assessments by professional services that have a bearing on education provision for children, especially young children with special needs, are often undertaken directly through the Health Service Executive, HSE, or through voluntary agencies funded by HSE. My Department does not have the statistical data in that regard.

In common with many other psychological services, NEPS operates a staged model of service to schools, whereby an initial referral usually leads to a consultation and provision of advice to teachers and parents on appropriate teaching and management strategies. Progress is kept under review, and only those children who fail to respond to these interventions will need referral for full psychological assessment. That allows the psychologists to offer early appointments to young children in urgent need of support, and early advice to teachers in respect of those children whose needs are perhaps less pressing but who still need additional help in school.

As the Deputy will be aware, my Department has introduced a general allocation model of additional resources to all primary schools for children in the high incidence category of special educational needs as set out in my Department's Circular Sp Ed 02/05. That enables an automatic response on the part of schools to any child deemed to be in need of additional teaching resources, including children whose needs may not emerge immediately. The needs of such children are normally kept under review by the school, and it is for the school authorities in conjunction with the various support agencies to make application for psychological and other assessment to determine whether a child falls into the category of low incidence. Subsequently, the school authorities can make application to the NCSE for additional resources in the case of a child diagnosed as being within any of the low-incidence categories of disability.

In many cases, children with special needs categorised as being within the low incidence category of need have already been assessed and identified prior to enrolment in school. In that event, application can be made immediately to the NCSE for the provision of additional and appropriate support for those children in school.

The system of assessment and provision is kept under constant review by my Department, and I am satisfied that in general the current arrangements in that regard for children with special needs are adequate.