Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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225. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the procedure through which a company or a person providing early intervention services in a preschool setting to children with autism and-or ASD can avail of the home tuition grant; the most appropriate person for them to contact in his Department in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3132/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Purpose of the Home Tuition Grant 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 also provides a compensatory educational service for children with special educational needs seeking an educational placement for whom such a placement is not available. Provision is also made for early educational intervention for children aged from 2.5 years to 3 years with autism.

Home Tuition is provided as an interim measure only for children for whom a placement in a recognised school is sought but not available and should not be regarded as an optional alternative to a school placement.

Where parents of children, who are eligible for Home Tuition under the terms of the scheme, and for whom home tuition has been approved, have sought alternative arrangements to be put in place for the tuition, my Department has responded by putting arrangements in place with 12 private pre-school providers which provide group tuition to children in a class type setting. Each of these providers was selected by the parents.

My Department will consider similar arrangements with other private providers should parents of eligible children request this.

In recognition of the demand for group arrangements by parents of children, who are eligible for Home Tuition under the scheme, my Department now advises all such parents of the option to enter into a group arrangement with other parents of children for whom home tuition has been sanctioned. My Department has no contract with the pre-school providers. The contract is essentially between the parents and the relevant provider.

Parents wishing to enter into such an arrangement must notify my Department in advance for approval. The arrangements must conform to the general terms of the scheme.