Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 218: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 231 of 13 May 2010 and previous parliamentary questions relating to a person (details supplied) in need of home tuition, if the offer of five hours per week can be increased; the reason ten or 20 hours were not approved; if assessment and the need of this person have been taken into account; if the approval date can be backdated; and if an analysis of hours granted can be given to detail the number of pupils and the percentage that have five hours, 10 hours and 20 hours per week. [24033/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be 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 preschool children with autism.

The maximum allocation for children eligible for tuition where their medical condition impacts their ability to attend school is 10 hours per week and the allocation is based on attendance levels. The application for home tuition for the child in question was made in this context on 17th May 2010 and approval was granted on 24th May 2010. There is no facility to sanction tuition retrospectively. I have arranged for the statistics on the scheme requested by the Deputy to be forwarded to him.