Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 431: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will ensure that qualified special needs assistants will be accepted as providers of home tuition; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14873/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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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.

The Deputy will appreciate, that as home tuition takes place outside of the normal school framework, there is need to ensure that tuition providers are appropriately qualified to give education to the children concerned. The usual requirement is a fully qualified teacher. However, other qualifications are acceptable depending on the individual needs of the child. A list of relevant qualifications may be sourced on my Department's website on www.education.ie. It is in the interests of children to expect that home tutors funded under this scheme are appropriately qualified tuition providers.