Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 1101: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the guarantees available for parents of pupils with serious special educational needs in post primary schools that their child will be taught by a teacher qualified in special needs. [32971/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill vacancies in an individual school is a matter for the Board of Management of the school concerned. It is the policy of my Department that unqualified personnel should only be employed in exceptional circumstances and when all avenues for recruiting qualified personnel have been exhausted. Unqualified personnel should therefore only be employed for short periods pending the recruitment of a fully qualified teacher. I have indicated my intention to commence Section 30 of the Teaching Council Act in the near future. I have also indicated that the commencement of the section will also provide for it to be regulated that a school may employ unregistered personnel on a time limited basis in extreme circumstances.

My Department has put in place a training programme for teachers in autism-specific interventions including TEACCH, PECS and ABA through the Special Education Support Service (SESS). The SESS facilitates a partnership approach involving support teams of practising teachers, Education Centres, the Inspectorate, the National Educational Psychological Service, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the National Council for Special Education, Third Level Colleges, Health Board Personnel, Teacher Unions and other relevant bodies and services.

Parents of children with autism now have three distinct choices available to them depending on the needs of the child; their child can either attend a mainstream class in their local school with additional supports as required, they can attend a special class in a mainstream school or they can attend a special school. While some children with autism can thrive in a mainstream class, special classes in both mainstream and special schools have been specifically designed to meet the needs of those who require more intensive support.

My Department's Inspectorate carried out an Evaluation of Educational Provision for Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) which was published in 2006. The report looked at the education that is provided for children with autism in a variety of settings nationwide, including mainstream classes supporting children with autism.

I am satisfied with the current policy of providing schools who have special classes for children with autism with qualified teachers, low pupil teacher ratios, a minimum of 2 special needs assistants per class, access to professional development as well as training courses in autism specific interventions, enhanced capitation and grants for specialist equipment and furniture, if required, together with special school transport arrangements.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 1102: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if the resource hours allocated to pupils with special needs are being used specifically for these pupils or if in some cases they are being used in the general body of the school. [32972/09]

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 1103: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the way resource hours for children with special educational needs are being used in post primary schools. [32973/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1102 and 1103 together.

Resource teaching is allocated to schools to support pupils with special educational needs who qualify for such support under the criteria outlined in various Department circulars.

As the Deputy is aware, my Department implemented a general allocation system of learning support/resource teachers to mainstream primary schools in September 2005. The system provides teaching resources to schools to enable them to cater for children with high-incidence special education needs. The system allows schools to respond quickly and effectively to the individual needs of children with special educational needs. The system facilitates flexibility in the delivery of interventions by schools in allowing for individualised tuition, group work, in-class support or a combination of these interventions, whichever is considered the most appropriate for the child in question. It is a matter for the individual school to use its professional judgement to identify pupils that will receive this support and to use the resources available to the school to intervene at the appropriate level with such pupils. My Department issued a comprehensive circular, SP ED 02/05, to schools to provide guidelines and advice on the manner in which they should use the resources that have been allocated to them to best effect.

In circumstances where a child has low incidence needs, this automatically attracts an individual resource teaching allocation through the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). Circular SP ED 02/05 advises school management that the additional teaching resources that are allocated to schools under the terms of the general allocation model cannot be used for mainstream class teaching or to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio in mainstream classes. Reference is also made in the circular to the deployment of additional teaching resources that are allocated to schools by the NCSE for the support of individual pupils with low incidence disabilities.

In the case of post primary schools, circular PPT 01/05 outlines the Department's policy in relation to the allocation of teaching resources. Group teaching approaches are prioritised in catering for pupils with special educational needs at post primary level. Apart from the obvious benefit of being part of a group, this joint provision offers a level of support which meets and often exceeds the recommended individualised provision as per the relevant circulars.