Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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965. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will allocate resource teaching hours to a student (details supplied) in County Kilkenny; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37798/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to schools to support children with special educational needs.

The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support.

All schools were asked to apply for Resource Teaching and SNA support for the 2015/16 school year by 18th March 2015. The NCSE also continued to accept applications after this date in recognition that enrolments may not have been completed or where assessments were not completed.

The NCSE has now published details of Resource Teaching and SNA allocations for schools for September 2015 on its website at www.ncse.ie.

I understand that the pupil referred to in this question transferred from a school where teaching and SNA support had previously been in place and enrolled to a new school on 14th September, 2015.

The NCSE has advised that it received an application from the new school for SNA support for the pupil on 22nd September. The NCSE has also advised that it recently allocated this school additional resource teaching and SNA support to cater for this pupil's needs.

The deployment of SNA support and organisation of resource teaching support within schools is a matter for individual schools to manage, taking into account each child's individual needs

Parents who have concerns regarding the manner in which the resources or facilities which have been provided to support their child's education are being applied in school should, in the first instance, raise this matter directly with their school Principal or the Board of Management of the school.

Finally I wish to explain that, for children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, have been unable to attend school for a period, my Department may provide a compensatory educational service through the Home Tuition scheme. In this regard, Home Tuition has been sanctioned for the child referred to by the Deputy, taking into account the significant level of previous absences from school.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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966. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to increase the number of autism spectrum disorder classes in Cork, given that there are currently only five schools with such classes to cater for autistic pupils and the demand for places far exceeds availability; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37815/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The policy of my Department is that children with special educational needs, including children with autism, should be included where possible and appropriate in mainstream placements with additional supports provided. In circumstances where children with special educational need require more specialised interventions, special school or special class places are also available.

The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for processing applications from primary and post primary schools for special educational needs supports, including the establishment of special classes in various geographical areas as required. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support.

SENOs engage with schools annually in order to plan for, and to open, new special classes each year, in order to ensure there are sufficient special class placements available at primary and post primary school level to meet demand in a given area.

All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents are encouraged to liaise with the local SENO to discuss placement options for their child.

The NCSE will continue to monitor and review the requirement for special class places in particular areas and has capacity to establish such new special classes where necessary subject to the willingness of schools to open classes.

Parents can choose to enrol children with autism in an early intervention class from the age of three and where such a placement is not available home tuition is approved. Children with autism over the age of four may also be eligible for home tuition if a school placement is not available for them.

My officials have been advised by the NCSE that there are currently 124 ASD special classes at primary and post primary level in Co. Cork. This includes 24 early intervention classes, 66 classes at primary level and 34 autism classes at post primary level. Each special class for autism has a 6:1 pupil teacher ratio.

Details of all of the special classes for children with special educational needs which are attached to mainstream schools are published each year on the NCSE website at www.ncse.ie.