Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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936. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views on whether early start requires an overhaul and that autistic children need additional support to be able to fulfil their potential; her plans in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39195/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Early Start programme was established in 1994, and is a one-year intervention to meet the needs of children aged between 3 years and 5 years who are at risk of not reaching their potential within the school system. It involves an educational programme to enhance overall development, help prevent school failure and offset the effects of social disadvantage.

Since the inception of Early Start, the early childhood education and care landscape has changed significantly with the introduction of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme in 2010, and the extension of this scheme to a two year programme in 2018. The ECCE scheme is under the remit of my colleague the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and officials of my Department and its agencies co-operate closely with that Department, particularly in relation to Síolta and Aistear, the national quality and curriculum frameworks for early years care and education.

While the ECCE scheme is the national universal two-year pre-school scheme available to all children, the Early Start programme continues to run in 40 primary schools in designated areas of urban disadvantage, and has capacity for 1,620 children each year. Early Start units attached to primary schools are staffed by teachers and child care workers, and the role of the child care workers is to meet the care needs of all the children in the unit, including those children with special educational needs. The programme opens each year to new child enrolments.

My Department also plays a key role in the ongoing development of the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) which was launched in June 2016 by the Department of Children, Equality, Diversity, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY). AIM is a model of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access the ECCE scheme. AIM supports are provided through the ECCE scheme. The main supports are grouped into universal or targeted supports. Where universal supports are not enough to meet the needs of an individual child, targeted supports are available to ensure the child can meaningfully participate in pre-school.

My Department has made provision for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) classes for children of pre-school age for whom places aren’t available from providers of the ECCE scheme. These classes are attached to mainstream schools. There are currently 135 of these ASD classes across the country providing targeted supports for 737 pupils. Moreover, where places in those classes are not currently available to pupils my Department provides Home Tuition grants to enable access to pre-school education for those children. In the last school year there were 522 pre-school children being supported by the Home Tuition scheme.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is available to provide further advice and assistance in respect of the supports available which are delivered locally through their national network of Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) who interact with parents and schools and liaise with the HSE in providing resources to support children with special educational needs.

Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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937. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress that has been made to secure an autism class in a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39197/21]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government.

This year, just under 25% of the total Education budget or €2bn will be invested in supporting children with special educational needs (SEN).As a result, the numbers of special education teachers, SNAs and special class and school places are at unprecedented levels.

For the coming school year there will be over 13,600 Special Education Teachers allocated to mainstream schools, who will support class teachers to address the special educational needs and learning needs of pupils who attend mainstream schools.

This year we are also providing for two new special schools and 269 new special classes. We will have a total of 2,118 special classes in 2021/22, which is the largest number of special classes that we have ever had, and compares to 548 classes available in 2011.

18,000 Special Needs Assistants will be available to support the care needs of pupils with special educational needs in our schools.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide.

NCSE is planning a further expansion of special class and special school places nationally, to meet identified need. This process is ongoing. Through better planning at both national and local level, it is my objective that specialist education places should come on stream to meet emerging demand on a timely basis.

Planning for future needs takes into consideration the current availability of such places and focuses on those locations where additional provision is required. However, the active collaboration of school communities is essential in this regard.

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.

In establishing new special classes, the NCSE is required to satisfy itself that the class is both sustainable and available to all of the students who may need special class placements in a particular area.

I have requested the NCSE to engage with the schools in question regarding future expansion of SEN provision in their schools.

The local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) are available to assist and advise parents of children with special educational needs. Parents may contact SENOs directly using the contact details available at: ncse.ie/regional-servic.

I can assure the Deputy that my Department will continue to prioritise investment in special education.

Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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938. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the plans that have been put in place for the provision of new schools for the Dublin 12 area and in particular ASD education given the expansion of the area with over 6,000 new residents in the next two years. [39198/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a Geographical Information System, utilising data from a range of sources including information on planned and current residential development, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise.

Dublin 12 is situated in the Dolphins Barn_Dublin12 school planning area.

As the Deputy is aware, major new residential developments in a school planning area have the potential to alter demand in that area. In that regard, as part of the demographic exercises, my Department engages with each local authority to obtain the up-to-date data on residential development activity.

Where data indicates that additional provision is required at primary or post primary level, the delivery of such additional provision is dependent on the particular circumstances of each case and may be provided through either one, or a combination of, the following:

- Utilising existing unused capacity within a school or schools,

- Extending the capacity of a school or schools,

- Provision of a new school or schools.

My Department's most recent projections do not indicate significant increases in school place requirements at either primary or post primary level in the Dolphin's Barn_D12 school planning area. Planned residential development is included in these projections.

Nevertheless, my Department will continue to work to ensure that there is sufficient capacity in the area to meet school place demand and will keep the requirements in Dublin 12, as with all other school planning areas, under review.

In respect of provision for pupils with special educational needs, my Department has approved the following 2 projects were for ASD provision in Dublin 12 in 2021 under the Additional Schools Accommodation (ASA) scheme:

St. Damian’s NS, Perrystown, Dublin 12 – a one class Special Education Needs room

Our Lady of the Wayside NS, Bluebell, Dublin 12 – three class Special Education Needs rooms.

In addition, a new special school will be established for the 2021/2022 school year in the former Scoil Colm, Crumlin. The school will operate under the patronage of the Archbishop of Dublin and will be known as Our Lady of Hope School. Reconfiguration works are currently being undertaken in the building to facilitate the school’s establishment. The school will offer places to students with autism and general learning disabilities with priority given to children with no offer of a placement for September next.

Requirements for special education provision will continue to be kept under review.

Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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939. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the proposed reforms that are planned by her Department for the early start system to aid autistic children. [39199/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Early Start programme was established in 1994, and is a one-year intervention to meet the needs of children aged between 3 years and 5 years who are at risk of not reaching their potential within the school system. It involves an educational programme to enhance overall development, help prevent school failure and offset the effects of social disadvantage.

Since the inception of Early Start, the early childhood education and care landscape has changed significantly with the introduction of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme in 2010, and the extension of this scheme to a two year programme in 2018. The ECCE scheme is under the remit of my colleague the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and officials of my Department and its agencies co-operate closely with that Department, particularly in relation to Síolta and Aistear, the national quality and curriculum frameworks for early years care and education.

While the ECCE scheme is the national universal two-year pre-school scheme available to all children, the Early Start programme continues to run in 40 primary schools in designated areas of urban disadvantage, and has capacity for 1,620 children each year. Early Start units attached to primary schools are staffed by teachers and child care workers, and the role of the child care workers is to meet the care needs of all the children in the unit, including those children with special educational needs. The programme opens each year to new child enrolments.

My Department also plays a key role in the ongoing development of the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) which was launched in June 2016 by the Department of Children, Equality, Diversity, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY). AIM is a model of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access the ECCE scheme. AIM supports are provided through the ECCE scheme. The main supports are grouped into universal or targeted supports. Where universal supports are not enough to meet the needs of an individual child, targeted supports are available to ensure the child can meaningfully participate in pre-school.

My Department has made provision for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) classes for children of pre-school age for whom places aren’t available from providers of the ECCE scheme. These classes are attached to mainstream schools. There are currently 135 of these ASD classes across the country providing targeted supports for 737 pupils. Moreover, where places in those classes are not currently available to pupils my Department provides Home Tuition grants to enable access to pre-school education for those children. In the last school year there were 522 pre-school children being supported by the Home Tuition scheme.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is available to provide further advice and assistance in respect of the supports available which are delivered locally through their national network of Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) who interact with parents and schools and liaise with the HSE in providing resources to support children with special educational needs.