Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 105: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when she expects to put in place the necessary staffing arrangements to ensure the operation of the special classes for autistic children in mainstream education, having particular regard to the urgency of the children's needs and the anxiety of their parents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5054/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware of my commitment to ensuring that all children, including those with autism, receive an education appropriate to their needs, through the primary, special and post primary schools system.

My Department provides a wide range of supports and additional resources to support children with special educational needs, including autism. These services include:

additional teaching support where a child is fully integrated into a mainstream school

reduced pupil-teacher-ratios where the child is in a special class attached to a mainstream school or a special school

special needs assistant support for a child who has care needs

assistive technology where this is recommended

specialist equipment such as modified desks and chairs as required, and — specially adapted school buildings where necessary.

As a further support, many smaller schools where autism units are approved by the National Council for Special Education can now have an administrative principal to assist with the establishment and running of specialist intervention locally. In addition enhanced levels of capitation are available to special schools and mainstream schools with special classes.

Children on the autistic spectrum may, depending on their individual needs, attend mainstream school on a fully or partially integrated basis or attend special autism-specific classes or units in mainstream schools or special schools. The staffing complement in special classes for children with autism is one teacher and a minimum of two SNAs to each class of six pupils.

Additional SNA support may be provided on the basis of the assessed needs of individual pupils.

As the Deputy is aware, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is now operational. A specific function of the NCSE, through its network of local special educational needs organisers (SENOs), is to identify appropriate educational placement for all children with special educational needs. The SENO is a focal point of contact for parents and schools. It is open to parents to contact the SENOs directly regarding their children's needs.

I am satisfied that the National Council for Special Education authorises the appropriate levels of staffing to ensure the continued roll-out of autism provision. This can be clearly seen from the number of special classes already in place:

181 special classes for children with autism, attached to special and mainstream schools.

5 special classes for children with Asperger's Syndrome.

16 pre-school classes to provide early intervention provision for children on the autistic spectrum.

14 Stand Alone facilities providing an Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) specific methodology on a pilot basis, 2 of these facilities have yet to be established.

Additional training supports for staff engaged in the education provision for children with autism can be accessed through the Special Education Support Service (SESS). The service will, as appropriate, consolidate, co-ordinate, develop and deliver a range of professional development initiatives and support structures to the relevant staff.