Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 106: To ask the Minister for Education and Science his plans to provide, or if there is, financial assistance or a grant mechanism available from him to families to obtain extra educational grinds or assistance for their children who suffer from autism; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31922/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides grant aid, under the home tuition scheme, to parents of children with autism who are awaiting an educational placement or to provide early education intervention for pre-school children who have been assessed as having autism. The grant provides for ten hours home tuition per week for each child with autism aged between 2.5 and 3 years of age. This increases to twenty hours per week on the child's 3rd birthday. No funding is provided in respect of children with autism who have a school/early education placement available to them.

The Deputy will be aware of the Government's ongoing commitment to ensuring that all children with special educational needs, including those with autism, can have access to an education appropriate to their needs preferably in school settings through the primary and post primary school network. The Deputy will also be aware, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for processing applications from primary, special and post primary schools for special needs supports on the basis of applications in respect of individual pupils. The SENOs operate within the policy outlined in my Department's circulars for allocating such support.