Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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217. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children in Dublin 7 who are on a waiting list to access an ASD unit. [49523/18]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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218. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children in Dublin 1 who are on a waiting list to access an ASD unit. [49524/18]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 217 and 218 together.

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. My Department has no role in relation to processing applications for enrolment to schools and it does not maintain details of waiting lists in schools.

The National Council for Special Education (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.

Parents/guardians who may need advice or are experiencing difficulties in locating a school placement should contact their local Special Education Needs Organiser (SENO) who can assist in identifying an appropriate educational placement for their child. Contact details are availableon .

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.

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

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 onwww.ncse.ie.

My Department has acknowledged that in recent years the establishment of special class provision in some schools and communities has been challenging.

The Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 when fully commenced will assist in addressing this issue in areas where the NCSE is of the opinion that there is insufficient capacity in relation to the provision of education for children with special educational needs.

Section 8 of the Act, which will commence from Monday 3rd December 2018, will provide the Minister with a power, after a process of consultation with the 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.

The NCSE is engaging with the education partners and will finalise 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.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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219. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the supports available for a 16 year old autistic student who has specific personal needs and requires home tuition (details supplied). [48882/18]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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The purpose of my Department’s Home Tuition Grant Scheme is to provide funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, are unable to attend school. The scheme also provides a compensatory educational service for children with special educational needs seeking an educational placement. Provision is also made for early intervention for children with autism.

Home tuition is provided as an interim provision only and should not be regarded as an optional alternative to a place in school.

Further details on the Home Tuition Grant Scheme, including the annual Circular and associated Application Forms are available at

My Department has not received a home tuition application for the person referred to by the Deputy for this school year.

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