John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 283: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the steps taken to provide speech therapy for a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny; the other forms of support her Department will make available based on the psychologist's recommendations obtained by the child's parents; if her Department will agree on the level of support and services required and deliver same in a pro active way; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9059/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Responsibility for the provision of speech and language therapy supports rests with the Health Service Executive which has been allocated funding for this purpose.

My Department or the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has not had sight of the psychologist's recommendations referred to by the Deputy. The 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 placements for all children with special educational needs. The SENO is a focal point of contact for parents and schools. It is open to a parent to contact the SENO directly regarding their child's needs. Contact details for the SENO may be accessed on the NCSE website at www.ncse.ie.

The Deputy will be aware of my commitment to ensuring that all children, including those with autism receive an education appropriate to their needs, preferably through the primary and post primary school network.

In this regard my Department has established:

182 special classes for children with autism attached to special and mainstream schools;

5 special classes for children with Asperger's Syndrome;

18 pre-school classes to facilitate the demand for 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.

In addition, my Department operates a home tuition scheme which provides funding to parents to facilitate the provision of education at home for children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, are unable to attend school. The scheme was extended in recent years to facilitate tuition for children awaiting a suitable educational placement and also to provide early educational intervention for pre-school children with autism.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 284: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will provide funding for an educational centre (details supplied) in County Mayo in view of the recent developments in this case. [9109/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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An application received from the group referred to by the Deputy to participate in the pilot scheme, which has facilitated the establishment of a number of ABA-specific units nationwide, is under consideration by officials in my Department.

The Deputy will be aware of my commitment to ensuring that all children, including those with autism receive an education appropriate to their needs, preferably through the primary and post primary school network.

In this regard my Department has established:

182 Special classes for children with autism attached to special and mainstream schools, 7 of which are in the Mayo area;

5 special classes for children with Asperger's Syndrome;

18 pre-school classes to facilitate the demand for 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.