Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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365. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 70 of 12 March 2014, if it is incumbent on his Department to ensure moneys provided by his Department to a parent or legal guardian to provide home tuition is spent on this service; the checks his Department have in place to ensure that children whose parents or legal guardians receive said moneys actually receive home tuition; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13668/14]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Parents in receipt of the Home Tuition Grant aid engage tutors directly and the grant is paid to the parent either on a monthly basis in arrears or where possible in advance to assist parents cover the cost of engaging a tutor.

Parents/legal guardians approved for the Home Tuition engage tutors for the duration of the approved home tuition scheme on a self-employment basis and are paid directly by the Department into their own bank account and not the account of the tutor. It is the responsibility of the parent/legal guardian to transfer the fees received to the tutor once the tuition has been provided.

In order for the parent to receive payment of the grant aid in arrears, a claim form must be completed by both the parent and the tutor to confirm that the tuition was provided in accordance with the terms and conditions of the approval letter issued to the parent.

Where the parent chooses to avail of and qualifies for an advance payment, both the parent and the tutor sign a declaration confirming that they are both aware of the terms and conditions of the scheme. When the tuition has been completed, a reconciliation process, in which both the parent and the tutor confirm that the tuition was provided and the grant aid was used solely for the cost of the tuition provided, is completed.

I wish to inform the Deputy that in the small number of cases where parents are overpaid or where the parent fails to use the home tuition grant aid for the purposes it was intended, the Department has structured procedures in place to recover any resulting overpayment.