Written answers

Thursday, 18 October 2018

Department of Education and Skills

Special Educational Needs Service Provision

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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79. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the campaign in Dublin 15 by parents of children with autism to develop a second level special school for autism; if their submission has been examined in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42117/18]

Photo of Joe McHughJoe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of the demand for additional special class and special school placements in the North Dublin area.

I have asked the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to provide my Department with a report on current and future identified need in the area so that evidence based decisions may be made on the development of the necessary placements in the area for the short, medium and longer term.

The NCSE is continuing to work with schools, parents, NEPS, health professionals and other staff who are involved in the provision of services in the North Dublin 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 and beyond.

Funding for special education provision in 2018 will amount to some €1.75 billion, up 43% since 2011 and equivalent to 18.7% of the gross overall current allocation for education and training.

The Department's policy is to provide for the inclusive education of children with special educational needs, including Autism (ASD), in mainstream school settings, unless such a placement would not be in the best interests of the child concerned, or the children with whom they will be educated.

The greater proportion of children with Autism attend mainstream classes, but some require the environment of a special class or special school. This decision is based on a recommendation contained within a professional assessment and in consultation with the NCSE.

Special schools funded by my Department are intended to cater for children and young persons with special educational needs from the age of 4 years until the end of the school year in which they reach their 18th year.

The enrolment of a child to a school is a matter, in the first instance, for the parents of the child and the Board of Management of a school.

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 school, they should update their local SENO to inform the planning process.

The NCSE is responsible, through its network of Special Needs Organisers, for the development and delivery and co-ordination of education services to children with Special Educational Needs, including the establishment of special class and special school placements.

124 special schools provide specialist education for those students with the most complex special educational needs, including students diagnosed with ASD.

Since 2011, the NCSE has increased the number of special classes from 548 in 2011 to 1,459 across the country now, of which 1,196 are Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) special classes.

There are 37 special schools and 237 special classes attached to mainstream schools in Co. Dublin. Of these, 17 are ASD early intervention classes, 139 are primary ASD classes and 41 are post primary ASD classes. The number of ASD special classes in Co. Dublin have increased from 66 in 2011/2012 to 197 in 2018/2019. Details of all special classes for children with special educational needs are available on www.ncse.ie.

I signed a Commencement Order on the 4th of October bringing a number of sections of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act, 2018 into operation.

The commencement order will provide the Minister for Education and Skills with a power, after a process of consultation with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), the board of management and the patron of the school, to compel a school to make additional provision for the education of children with special educational needs. This power will come into effect on Monday 3rd December 2018. I have asked the NCSE to engage with the education partners and finalise the procedures in advance of this date.

This new power will build on the work which has been done in recent years to facilitate schools to open special classes.

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