John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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378. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the level of funding allocated to the Middletown centre for autism, Northern Ireland, each year since the commencement of the programme; the number of referrals made each year from this jurisdiction; and if the project will be funded on a permanent basis as it was described as a pilot project in 2014. [8137/23]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The Middletown Centre for Autism project is a jointly funded initiative between the Department of Education in Northern Ireland and the Department of Education aimed at supporting the promotion of excellence in the development and harmonisation of education and allied services to children and young people with autistic spectrum disorders.

At the request of my Department, and, as approved by the North South Ministerial Council, Middletown Centre for Autism (MCA) commenced provision, on a limited basis in the Republic of Ireland of an intensive educational assessment and learning support service to children and young people on an outreach basis (MCA Pilot). This is a second-tier service which complements existing provision for children and young people with autism. Therefore, where autistic children and young people experience significant difficulties, the first course of action is engagement with first tier services provided by the Department of Education, (including NEPS), National Council for Special Education and Health Services Executive and (HSE)/ HSE funded services.

The MCA Pilot is a second-tier service and currently works with a minimum of 12 referrals per year. The nomination and referral process is initiated by parents and professionals at school level via the Principal following a multidisciplinary school based review involving the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), the local Special Educational Needs Officer (SENO) and other relevant professionals. Nominations cannot be made directly to Middletown Centre for Autism (MCA), the Department of Education or the NCSE.

Nominations for MCA Referral are only considered for children and young people where such a review concludes despite comprehensive autism specific support and consistent engagement from school and home with first-tier services, the child or young person continues to present with significant and enduring behavioural and emotional concerns which impact their engagement and participation in education. MCA’s Learning Support & Assessment team builds on the work of first tier services and works alongside them to ensure their involvement in the process. They aim to create a strong base for building family and professional capacity to support the child when the referral concludes (normally after 10 months).

The Centre provides a comprehensive nationwide training service for parents and educational professionals. Parents can view the range of courses which the Centre has available through the website www.middletownautism.com. The Centre’s professional training programme will provide 7,000 differentiated training opportunities for professionals in Ireland. This will include Training required by the NCSE and training required to support the planned increase in new autism classes. The centre will also provide 7,000 training opportunities for parents in Ireland.

The Centre is currently preparing its business for their forthcoming financial year and this will be further discussed with the sponsoring Departments in due course.

The joint budget allocation for the Centre split equally between each Department: