Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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929. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a child is diagnosed with autism and receives a special class recommendation after the deadline of 19 February 2025, if the child is then not eligible to enter the appropriate education setting the following September for the 2025-2026 school year. [19780/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs.

Through the accelerated provision of additional special class and special school places over recent years, there are now just over 28,000 students enrolled in special classes and special schools. 2,700 new places are being created in 2025 and these, together with the over 1,200 existing places which will become available due to children and young people moving on from primary schools and post primary schools, will mean that there is close to 4,000 places available for the coming school year. The NCSE advise that just under 3,300 verified notifications of children seeking a specialist placement for the coming school year were received by them by mid-February.

It is important to remember that the majority of children with special education needs attend mainstream classes with their peers and can access increasing levels of support from their class teacher, special education teachers and Special Needs Assistants.

In October 2024, to support forward planning work, my department issued a circular letter (0080/2024) to all schools setting out a number of new measures to support the work of the NCSE and schools in providing new special classes.

Among the new measures introduced was a request for parents of children seeking a special education placement, including children already attending mainstream classes, to notify the NCSE. This was to ensure that the NCSE had a clear picture of the children in mainstream who may have needed a special placement. The information this provided allowed the NCSE identify where provision was required and sanction classes more quickly than in previous years.

399 of the 400 new special classes places provided for in Budget 2025 have been sanctioned for the 2025/26 school year. Of these 287 are at primary and 112 at post primary level. The NCSE continues to engage with a small number of schools in order to ensure there is adequate provision for all children known to them for the 2025/26 school year.

My department has requested the NCSE to work closely with schools and families to ensure that children can access these places as quickly as possible. My department has also written to all schools opening new special classes asking them to commence their admission processes as soon as possible.

The NCSE is still receiving notifications from parents seeking special educational placement for the 2025/26 school year. I advise any parent who has not yet made contact with the NCSE to now do so. The NCSE will continue to support these families and can advise of where remaining vacancies exist and provide advice and support as required. Local special educational need organisers (SENOs) remain available and parents may contact SENOs directly using the contact details available on the NCSE website. Where NCSE are notified later and there are no available places remaining, they will work with a family and a school to support a child's placement in mainstream pending a special class placement becoming available.

My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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930. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason for the requirement for professionals who wish to extend their registration with the Teaching Council in order to provide home tuition, to undertake additional courses (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19815/25]

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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931. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason for the requirement for professionals in fields such as occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and psychologists to be registered with the Teaching Council in order to work as home tutors (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19816/25]

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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932. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason qualified professionals are required to register with the Training Council; the reason home tutors working under the home tuition grant scheme for her Department need to register with an outside body such as the Teaching Council; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19817/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 930 to 932, inclusive, together.

The Home Tuition Grant Schemes provided by my department offer funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of specific reasons, are unable to attend school. By its nature, it is intended to be a short-term intervention.

The Home Tuition Grant Schemes are governed by annual circulars which outline the purpose, eligibility criteria and details of the scheme. Circular 0050/2024 provides information in relation to the 2024/2025 Home Tuition Grant Scheme (Special Education component) and can be accessed via the following link: www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=.

For children and young people eligible under the Home Tuition Grant Schemes, a grant is approved towards the engagement of a tutor who will provide home tuition for the child/young person in question. Home tutors are engaged by the parents/legal guardian of the child who is to receive tuition, and the tutor has no contractual relationship with the Department of Education.

As tuition takes place outside the regular school structure, it is essential that home tutors are qualified to deliver an educational programme. Accordingly, it is a condition of the scheme that parents/legal guardians recruit a tutor who is qualified in the relevant sector in which tuition is being provided and is registered with the Teaching Council for the duration of the approved tuition. The Teaching Council are the regulators of the teaching profession in Ireland and they administer vetting for teachers.

If efforts to secure the services of a teacher qualified in the relevant sector fail, the department may consider the engagement of a person who is registered with the Teaching Council and has a primary degree (minimum Level 7 on the National Framework of Qualifications) in a relevant area (e.g. Psychology).

It is important to note that the home tuition grant is for educational teaching interventions only. The provision of therapeutic services such as Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, psychological services, etc. require engagement with the HSE. Home tuition funding cannot be used for these services under any circumstances.