Parliamentary Question addressed to the Minister for Education and Skills

To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will reconsider the decision to restrict the home tuition grant to tuition provided by teachers registered with the Teaching Council of Ireland specifically where intervention is required for pre-school children; and if he will make a statement on the matter?

Reply:

I wish to advise the Deputy that the purpose of my Department’s Home Tuition scheme is to provide a compensatory education to children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, are unable to attend school.  The scheme was extended in recent years to facilitate tuition for children awaiting a suitable educational placement and also to provide early educational intervention for pre-school children with autism.

Home Tuition is for educational teaching intervention only. The provision of therapeutic services such as Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, psychological services are a matter for the HSE.

My Department currently provides funding through the Home Tuition scheme for children with autism who are unable to access school placements and for children from age 2.5 who are too young to enrol in an early intervention class.

Children, who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, can access early intervention classes from the age of 3.  Children attending such classes have access to individualised education programmes, fully qualified professional teachers who may draw from a range of autism specific interventions, special needs assistants, and the appropriate school curriculum with the option, where possible, of full or partial integration and interaction
with other pupils. 

It is appropriate therefore that the qualification standard required by the Home Tuition scheme reflects that required in a school environment. Class teachers in all schools are required to be fully qualified with a qualification relevant to the sector in which they are teaching.  All primary teachers are qualified to teach in any primary or special school classroom.  Teachers have access, through the Special Education Support Service, to continuing professional development in a range of autism specific interventions, including Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA), the Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children(TEACCH) and the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS).

I have requested the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to prepare Policy Advice on the Educational Provision for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.  The NCSE has commissioned research which will not be finalised until mid to late 2014 and I expect that this research will inform much of the work in preparing the policy advice.  Accordingly, it is not expected that the report will be finalised until early 2015.