Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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213. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a child (details supplied) will be placed in school from September 2018; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that home tuition will not help the child progress; and if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that the child has been on a placement waiting list for three years. [17603/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools, which have enrolled students with special educational needs, in order to ensure that wherever a child is enrolled, s/he will have access to an appropriate education. 

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) which is a separate independent statutory body, plans and co-ordinates the provision of education and support services to children with special educational needs, in consultation with the relevant education partners and the Health Service Executive (HSE).

The NCSE is aware of emerging need from year to year, and where special provision, including special class or special school provision, is required, it is planned and established to meet that need.

The NCSE has advised my Department that there is an emerging need for additional Special School placement options in the Cork area. My Department continues to work with the NCSE to ensure that there is appropriate planning in place to ensure that all children who require special school placements can access such placements. This process is ongoing.

The enrolment of a child in a school is a matter, in the first instance, for the parents of the child and the Board of Management of a school. My Department and the NCSE has no role in relation to processing applications for enrolment to schools.

Accordingly, the NCSE advises Parents, to seek to enrol their child, by applying in writing, to the school/s of their choice as early as possible.

Where Parents have been unsuccessful in enrolling their child in a special school placement for the 2018/19 school year, they should update their local Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO) to inform the planning process. Contact details are available at seno-contact-list.

The NCSE has advised that they continue to work with schools, parents, NEPS, health professionals and other staff who are involved in the provision of services in the Cork area for children with special educational needs, to ensure that each child has a school placement appropriate to their needs for the 2018/19 school year.

Where there is no placement available for a child with Special Educational Needs, this Department will consider applications under the Home Tuition Grant Scheme, where a student can receive up to 20 hours home tuition per week as an interim measure until a placement becomes available.

As the matter raised by the Deputy refers to a particular child, I have arranged for the Deputy's question to be forwarded to the National Council for Special Education for their attention and direct reply.