Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 89: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 200 of 15 June 2011, the options available to a family whose child is in attendance at a school and in view of the fact that the school has advised the parents that it cannot meet their child's special educational needs if, in circumstances in which the special educational needs organiser cannot identify an acceptable alternate school placement, home tuition would be approved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16807/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Deputy is aware that the home tuition scheme provides a grant to parents to facilitate the provision of education at home for children who, for a number of reasons such as for pupils who are awaiting a suitable educational placement.

As I have already clarified for the Deputy, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for co-ordinating special needs education provision at local level and arranging for the delivery of special educational services. They act as single points of contact for parents of students with special educational needs. Another specific function of the SENO is to identify appropriate educational placements for children with special educational needs. All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.

The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) is the statutory agency which assists parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The NEWB will try to help parents to find an alternative school placement if their child has been unable to secure a placement to date.