Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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325. To ask the Minister for Health the status of provision of the pre-school placement special needs assistant resources for children with special needs for the upcoming school year; if there have been any changes to the system of allocation of these resources; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17475/15]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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326. To ask the Minister for Health if he is aware that parents of children with special needs fear that they may be faced with reduced resource special needs assistant hours in the upcoming school year; the assurances he will provide to alleviate such fears; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17476/15]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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327. To ask the Minister for Health the reason some families have been advised that their children with special needs will be subject to an assessment regarding special needs assistant hours; if there will be an imposed limit of resource hours provided further to such assessments in the upcoming school year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17477/15]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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328. To ask the Minister for Health if current providers of pre-school placements and associated special needs assistant resource hours will be, or have been, consulted with, in regard to the allocation of resources for the upcoming school year; if the considered opinion of these service providers will be considered, as part of an assessment to allocate resource special needs assistant hours; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17478/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 325 to 328, inclusive, together.

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme, which is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, provides for a free pre-school year to eligible children in the year before they commence primary school. The objective of this scheme is to support early learning in a formal setting in advance of starting school. I understand that certain flexibilities are built into the scheme in an effort to accommodate children with special needs, such as an overage exemption, or waiver, for children with special needs who do not meet the age criteria and the option to avail of the free pre-school year over two years.

The Health Service Executive has no statutory obligation to provide assistant supports for children with special needs wishing to avail of the free pre-school year. However, the HSE does work at local level and in partnership with the relevant disability service providers to address individual needs as they arise. This is done, for example, by funding special pre-schools that cater specifically for children with disabilities. In some limited cases at local level, disability services have also facilitated children with disabilities to attend mainstream pre-schools by providing assistant supports where possible and where resources are available. The provision of such pre-school assistant supports should not be confused with the Special Needs Assistants who are funded by the Department of Education and Skills to support children with special educational needs in primary and post-primary school settings.

In general terms, the HSE’s role in supporting children with disabilities involves it working in close co-operation with the disability service providers that it funds, with the education sector, with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and with the parents and families of the children in question. At national level, the Departments of Children and Youth Affairs, Education and Skills and Health are actively looking at the issue of the integration of children with disabilities into mainstream pre-school settings, informed by work undertaken by the Cross Sectoral Team on children's disability issues.

The particular issues raised by the Deputy are service matters for the Health Services Executive. Accordingly I have arranged for the questions to be referred to the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.