Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 508: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason her Department has assigned a lower scale of home tuition grant reimbursement for tutors of pre-school aged children than those who deal with primary and secondary school children in view of the fact that all of these tutors need to meet the same high standard of qualification and are performing the same type of work; if her attention has been drawn to the discriminating effect that this policy is having on tutors; if she will make retroactive amends to those qualified tutors who have received the lower rate of reimbursement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30809/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is aware that the home tuition scheme provides funding to parents to provide 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.

The rates of pay applicable to home tuition tutors are based on the qualifications of the tutor. Therefore tutors fall into 2 categories for payment purposes i.e. primary and secondary in accordance with the appropriate part time rates of payment. A subdivision within the categories reflects whether the tutor is qualified or unqualified. Early intervention tutors are primary teachers and therefore paid at primary part time payment rates.