Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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540. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of an ASD unit (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21841/20]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Ensuring that every child has a suitable school placement is a key objective of my Department. Significant resources are allocated each year to ensure that appropriate supports are available for children with special educational needs.

A list of special classes for the current school year, including special classes for children with autism, is available on the National Council for Special Education's (NCSE) website.

Since 2011, the number of special classes in mainstream schools has increased almost threefold, from 548 to 1,618 for the 2019/2020 school year; with 1,353 of these catering for children with autism.

Budget 2020 provided for an additional 265 special class teachers in 2020, which will allow for the opening of additional classes where required.

The NCSE has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide; has well established structures in place for engaging with schools and parents; and seeks to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all children who have been identified as needing special class placements. My Department is not involved in the decisions around the establishment of individual special classes.

The NCSE is planning a further expansion of special class and school places nationally to meet identified need for next year. This process is ongoing.

It is open to any school to make an application to the NCSE for the establishment of a specialised provision and where sanctioned, a range of supports, including capital funding, is made available to the school. My Department works closely with the NCSE in this regard.

The NCSE have advised that there has been substantial engagement between local SENO, school management, HSE Services and Team Manager regarding the need of additional ASD Special Classes in the area. It is important that students enrolling in special classes meet criteria for enrolment i.e. have a diagnosis of disability and complex learning needs requiring the support of a special class. The majority of students with ASD attend their local mainstream school and are supported in a mainstream classroom through the schools SET allocation and, where necessary, SNA support.

As part of the continuum of support, the NCSE is committed to providing Special Class places for those students with complex needs for whom a mainstream placement is not a viable or appropriate option.

The school to which the deputy refers is opening its first special class in September 2020 and has indicated a willingness to establish additional special classes in the future. As of September 2020, the Team Manager and local HSE Services had determined there was no immediate need for a second special class in the area and advised the school accordingly. The NCSE will continue to engage with families and schools in the area and establish additional special classes as required.