Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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208. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if, in the case of the family of a person with special needs on the home tuition scheme that is offered a placement in a religious school or a school with an ethos contrary to their own and they reject the placement offer, his department will withdraw funding for home tuition. [11407/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that this Government is committed to ensuring that all children with Special Educational Needs, including those with autism, can have access to an education appropriate to their needs, preferably in school settings through the primary and post primary school network.

Such placements facilitate access to individualised education programmes which may draw from a range of appropriate educational interventions, delivered by fully qualified professional teachers, with the support of Special Needs Assistants and the appropriate school curriculum.

A school placement can be a place in a special school which enrols children with ASD; a place in a special class for children with ASD attached to a mainstream school; a place in an early intervention class for children with ASD or a place in a mainstream class – with additional resources allocated by the NCSE where necessary.

In the event that school placement is not available, my Department may provide a grant to fund Home Tuition provision for the child as a compensatory measure until such time as a placement is available. The Home Tuition Grant is an interim measure to provide for education until an educational placement is becomes available. When a school placement becomes available the Home Tuition Grant will be discontinued.

The religious ethos of a school is not considered when determining the availability of a school placement.

Article 44 of the Constitution and Section 30 of the Education Act 1998, provides that parents have a right to have their children opt out of religion classes if they so wish. The manner in which any school ensures that the right to opt out of religion classes is upheld is a matter for the school concerned.

Each individual school must determine the particular arrangements which are most appropriate in its individual circumstances having regard to local issues such as available space, supervision requirements and how the school concerned organises classes etc.

The Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016, includes a specific requirement that school enrolment policies must include details of the school’s arrangements for any students who do not wish to attend religious instruction. This is an important measure which will help ensure transparency from the outset as to how a school will uphold the rights of parents in this regard.

The operation of all other recognised schools, is subject to ongoing inspection and evaluation. My Department's school inspectorate inspects the schools on an ongoing basis and this has included a Whole School Evaluation in certain cases. The findings of such Whole School Evaluations are published on my Department's website. In addition, the schools all engage in school self-evaluation, the findings of which are published on school websites. In addition, the schools all engage in school self-evaluation, the findings of which are published on school websites.