Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 373: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if there is anything in law to prevent a child going from fifth class in a national school to first year in a secondary school, thereby missing sixth class, in view of the fact that the secondary school has special facilities for educating children with Asperger's syndrome. [21708/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to assure the Deputy that I am most anxious that all children, including children with autistic spectrum disorders, receive an education appropriate to their needs. It is in recognition of this that my Department currently provides the following facilities for the education of children with autism at primary level: 160 Special Classes for children with autism, attached to special and mainstream schools; 15 pre-school classes; 5 Special classes for children with Asperger's Syndrome; 12 Stand-Alone facilities providing an Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) specific methodology.

The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education has been established and there are approximately 71 Special Education Needs Organisers (SENO) employed by the Council who have been deployed on a nationwide basis, with at least one SENO being deployed in each county. Each SENO is responsible for the primary and second level schools in their area. The establishment of the NCSE will greatly enhance the provision of services to children with special educational needs and the local service delivery aspect of the Council's operation through the SENOs will provide a focal point of contact for parents/guardians and schools and will, I am confident, result in a much improved service for all. It is open to parents to contact their local SENO regarding their child's special educational needs. Contact details for the relevant SENO may be sourced from the NCSE at (046) 9486400. Alternatively, these details may be accessed on the NCSE website at www.ncse.ie.

The Primary School curriculum is designed as an eight year course, including a two year infant cycle followed by six years in standards from first to sixth, with children progressing to the next grade at the end of each school year. The allocation of a child to a particular class in a school is a matter for the authorities of the school and the child's parents. A decision to allocate a child to a class out of normal sequence may be made by the school following detailed consultation with the parents and following careful consideration of the educational and social needs of the child. However, it should also be noted that the following conditions are set down in the "Rules and Programmes for Secondary Schools", regarding the criteria for the recognition of pupils at second level. "A recognised pupil means a pupil 1. who is not less than 12 years of age on the first day of January of the school year 2. who, as a rule, has completed a full course of primary education and 3. who is following an approved course."

If any part of the criteria for entry to post-primary school is not met, e.g. that a full 8 year primary cycle is not completed, the matter would be referred to the Inspectorate for investigation and recommendation. Issues which would be considered by the Inspectorate would include the age of the pupil, the circumstances on which the decision was made to allow the pupil to skip a class out of sequence at primary level and the social development of the pupil.