Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason the National Council for Special Education advised him in June 2011 that there were school placements available for children attending Achieve who were not in receipt of home tuition. [16704/13]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason the National Council for Special Education or his Department did not identify a school placement for a child (details supplied) to attend in October 2011; and the reason this was in the best interests of the child. [16705/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 428 and 429 together.

The Deputy will be aware that Home Tuition Scheme provides for a compensatory educational service for children who are unable to attend school for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, or for whom there are no available placements.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is an independent agency with responsibility for determining the appropriate staffing levels to support pupils with special educational needs in mainstream and special schools. The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of supports to schools and the staffing resources available to my Department. The NCSE also provides support and advice to parents of children with special educational needs who are seeking educational placements for their children and clarifies availability of school placements for the purpose of home tuition applications.

The NCSE identified placements for the children referred to by the Deputy in June 2011. Home tuition was approved for the children for a 4 week period from the start of the 2011/2012 school year as the placements previously identified by NCSE had been taken by other children and were no longer available. One of the special classes for autism approved by NCSE at this time did not open until December 2011 as the school needed additioal time to recruit the additional teaching and SNA staff required. Home Tuition was further approved for the child to which the Deputy has referred until the date that the new class physically opened on the basis that he was unable to access placement during this period. This approval was provided notwithstanding that the child had not been enrolled by then and remains not enrolled in the school despite the identification of the placement. The NCSE and the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) remain available to assist the parents of the child in question with school placement options in recognised schools should the parents choose to avail of this assistance.