Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 567: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the position of her Department in relation to the needs of a child (details supplied) in Dublin 11; the evaluation this position is based upon; the way her Department proposes to meet the educational needs of this child in a mainstream school that does not have an autistic unit; and the assistance that her Department offers parents who wish to source a school place with such a unit. [17423/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The child in question is currently enrolled in a special class for autism attached to a mainstream school. As the Deputy will be aware, the National Council for Special Education is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for allocating resource teachers and special needs assistants to schools to support children with special needs who do not attend special classes, and for establishing additional special classes where a need has been established. All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.