Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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155. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the degree to which persons with autism continue to have ready access to primary and second level school places throughout County Kildare; the extent to which difficulties have arisen in meeting the ongoing requirements in the county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25003/17]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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160. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which adequate school places are available at primary and second level for children with autism throughout the various schools in north Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25008/17]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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163. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he remains satisfied regarding the adequacy of special needs teachers and special needs assistants to meet requirements at primary and second level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25011/17]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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165. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which adequate resource teachers remain available throughout all schools in north Kildare; his plans for augmentation in specific areas of particular need; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25013/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 155, 160, 163 and 165 together.

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.

Funding for special education provision in 2017 will amount to some €1.68 billion, which is equivalent to approximately 19% of the gross overall current allocation for education and training and represents an increase in spending in this area of 12% over the last two years.

This year, 13,015 Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) are available for allocation to primary and post primary schools to the end of the 2016/17 school year, which is an increase of almost 23% in the number of posts available since 2011. The demand for 2017/18 will not be known until the NCSE application process is complete.

There are currently over 12,500 learning support and resource teacher posts in mainstream primary and post primary schools. An additional 900 teaching posts have also been provided to support the introduction of the new model for allocating Special Education Teaching Resources to mainstream primary and post primary schools from September 2017.

My Department considers it essential that, in assessing the need for special class placements, the individual needs of children should be properly assessed to determine the appropriateness of special class provision for them.

Some students, although academically able to access the curriculum in mainstream, may find it too difficult to manage full-time placement there. This can be due to significant difficulties in areas such as behaviour or sensory needs which have not been ameliorated, even with appropriate intervention, in mainstream.

Enrolment in an ASD special class should only be considered where it has been demonstrated that a student requires the support of a special class because he/she is unable to learn effectively in a mainstream class for most or all of the school day even with appropriate supports.

Students enrolling in ASD Special Classes must have a report from a relevant professional or team of professionals (for example, psychologist, speech and language therapist, psychiatrist) stating that:

- S/he has ASD

- S/he has significant learning needs that require the support of a special class setting and the reasons why this is the case.

125 special schools also provide specialist education for those pupils who need it.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), in consultation with the relevant education partners, is responsible for the establishment of special classes in various geographical areas where there is an identified need.

The NCSE continues to establish additional special classes to support children with Special Educational Needs including Autism as required. Since 2011 the NCSE has increased the number of such classes by over 100% from 548 in 2011 to 1153 across the country in 2016/17, of which 888 are Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) special classes.

The NCSE, in looking to open special classes, must take into account the present and future potential need for such classes, taking particular account of the educational needs of the children concerned. The NCSE will also take account of location and sustainability in looking to establish special classes in certain areas.

With regard to Kildare, in particular, there are 942 students with ASD attending schools in the County. Of these, 520 students attend mainstream schools and are accessing in-school supports including Resource teaching and SNA support. 322 students are attending 59 ASD special classes, including 6 Early Intervention classes, 41 primary ASD classes and 12 post primary ASD classes. A further 100 students with ASD are placed in 4 special schools in the county. The number of ASD classes has increased in the area by 24% since the 2013/14 school year.

The NCSE has informed my Department that it intends to establish 1 new ASD class at primary level and 2 new ASD classes at post-primary level in Co. Kildare for the 2017/18 school year.

Parents/Guardians who may need advice or are experiencing difficulties in locating a school placement should contact their local Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO) who can assist in identifying an appropriate educational placement for their child. Contact details are available on www.ncse.ie.

In recent years, the NCSE has provided my Department with a number of policy advice papers on the provision of supports for children with special needs, all of which are available on the NCSE’s website. It is intended to bring into effect many improvements to the provision of special educational needs support, through policy developments across a range of areas, in conjunction with NCSE policy advice.

As committed to in the Programme for a Partnership Government, the adequacy of the present policies and provision and their scope for improvement is being examined. The NCSE are currently undertaking a comprehensive review of the SNA Scheme to ensure better outcomes for children with special educational needs. Following its pilot, the new model for allocating special needs teachers has been introduced in schools.

I can confirm that this Government will continue to ensure that the supports required, to ensure that all children with special educational needs can continue to participate in education, will be provided.

Further details on special classes, resource teaching and SNA allocations are available on the NCSE's website at www.ncse.ie.