Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason there is only 20 hours a week of home tutoring available for two siblings with autism. [48617/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will be aware that the purpose of the Home Tuition Scheme is to provide a compensatory educational service 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 pre-school children with autism.

The combined allocation to siblings is reflective of the family situation whereby a tutor can provide collective tuition to members of the one family. As home tuition is intended to compensate for school based provision it is reasonable to reflect the school grouping principle and reduce allocations to siblings accordingly.