Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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161. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason for the closure of a unit (details supplied). [19924/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department has advised the NCSE to approve the continuation of the early intervention special class for children with a diagnosis of ASD, referred to by the Deputy. The approval from the NCSE will be for one additional year only i.e. 2018/2019 school year.

The continuation of the class is intended to allow for further consideration and assessment of the educational provision in this setting. To this end, the Inspectorate of my Department is currently undertaking this review.

Particular focus of my Inspectorate will be to examine the appropriateness of the operation of an early intervention ASD specific special class within this pre-school environment and to address concerns in relation to access to the opportunity for transition planning to primary placements.