Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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188. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a child (details supplied) can be found a place in a school that will suit their needs, as per the recommendations of their early intervention team clinicians; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29299/20]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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189. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she can task the SENO in the appropriate area to support a child (details supplied) and their family in locating an appropriate school place in a primary school with an ASD unit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29300/20]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 188 and 189 together.

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government. Currently, almost 20% of the total Education Vote or €1.9bn is invested in supporting children with special needs.

Notwithstanding the extent of this investment, there are some parts of the country, including South Dublin, where increases in population and other issues have led to concerns regarding a shortage of school places.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide. NCSE is continuing its engagement with schools, patron bodies, parents and others across South Dublin to bring the required additional special class and special school placements on stream. While progress has been achieved, the NCSE has identified the need for additional special class and special school places in South Dublin for the current school-year.

Normally, special class and special school places are established with the full cooperation of the schools in areas where they are required. However there are some parts of the country where the NCSE has faced challenges in getting schools and their patrons to provide new special class or special school places.

As Minister, I have a power under Section 37A of the Education Act 1998 (as inserted by Section 8 of the Education (Admissions to Schools) Act 2018), to direct a school to provide additional provision where all reasonable efforts have failed. The legislation contains a procedure through which the capacity of schools in an area can be tested and through which ultimately a Ministerial direction can be made requiring a school to make additional special education provision available.

The legislation was used for the first time in 2019, in respect of the Dublin 15 area. Significant progress has been made in that area on foot of action taken under Section 37. A new Special School was established and six schools have agreed to open special classes thereby meeting the need for additional places in the area. The experience of Dublin 15 shows that real and practical challenges can be addressed by working together to provide additional special class and special school places.

A Report from the NCSE, prepared in accordance with Section 37A (2) of the Education Act 1998 (as inserted by Section 8 of the Education (Admissions to Schools) Act 2018), confirming the need for additional special education places in South Dublin was submitted to the then Minister in April last. This Report is available on my Department’s website.

Statutory notices under the Act were subsequently issued on 26 June, 2020 to 39 schools identified by the NCSE. The issue of the notices is but the first step in a very transparent multi-step process, the purpose of which is to establish if the school has capacity to provide new places. At each stage of the process, schools are given the opportunity to make representations and there is also an option for arbitration at a later point. Statutory notices issued under the Act together with the representations received from the schools and their patrons are published on my Department’s website. The representations received to date have all been published and are a matter of public record.

It would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this stage on the legislative process which is currently underway.

In circumstances, where no placement is available for a child with special educational needs, the Department can provide Home Tuition grant funding towards the provision of 20 hours home tuition per week as an interim measure until the NCSE confirms that a placement is available.

Home Tuition will not be available where a school placement has been identified by the NCSE. Similarly, failure to enrol a child in school will not give rise to eligibility under this scheme.

I can confirm that in the specific case referenced by the Deputy, 20 hours Home Tuition per week has been approved for the period 31/8/20 to 25/6/21 under the SEN strand of the Home Tuition Grant Scheme.

I also understand that the NCSE is currently engaging with the parents regarding the child's needs and an appropriate placement. Local SENOs will remain available to support the family in accessing an appropriate school placement.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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190. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if data exists or an assessment has been conducted on the need for an ASD unit in a school (details supplied). [29313/20]

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.

Children with special educational needs are supported through placement in mainstream classes, special classes and special schools. At school, they receive a range of supports provided by teachers and SNAs. Other professional supports, including training for teachers, are provided by the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to enable each school provide a holistic educational experience for each child. The HSE is responsible for the delivery of therapeutic supports.

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 education placements. The NCSE is planning a further expansion of special class and school places nationally to meet identified need. 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. School transport is also available. My Department works closely with the NCSE in this regard.

The building project for the school referred to by the Deputy includes the provision of a 4 classroom SEN base. This project is in the process of being devolved for delivery to the local Education and Training Board (ETB).

The first step in this process is the execution of a Service Level Agreement between my Department and the ETB and this is being arranged. Thereafter, the ETB will procure a Design Team for the project to design the buildings, obtain the necessary statutory planning permissions and move the project onward to construction in due course. As the project is at an early stage in the delivery process, it is not possible at this time to give a date for its completion.