The judgment to which the Deputy refers runs to 69 pages and three appendices of over 100 pages. It deals with a range of complex issues and has very significant implications, not just for the education of persons with special needs, but, more generally, for the education system. It raises fundamental issues regarding the State's obligation to provide education services for persons over 18 years and the nature of such services. The full implications of the judgment are currently being studied in my Department and the Deputy will appreciate that I am, therefore, somewhat constrained in commenting in detail on the matter at this stage.
Since October 1998 my Department has formally recognised the distinct educational needs of certain children with autism. Arising from this decision, children with autism have been catered for in special dedicated classes in special schools or attached to ordinary schools. Each such class has operated at a pupil-teacher ratio of 6:1 and each class has had the support of a special needs assistant. To date, a total of 63 such classes have been established and further classes will be established in response to assessed needs.
I have recently announced a range of important new measures which will significantly enhance the support services provided by my Department for children with autism. These include: the immediate introduction of a nationwide pre-school education service for all children with autism; the extension of the school year through the month of July, in the case of all special facilities catering for children with autism; a doubling of the level of special needs assistant cover provided for each special class catering for children with autism; the appointment of an internationally recognised expert in the field of autism to advise my Department on the development of services in this area and to liaise with the special task force on autism which I recently established and which is due to report to me within three months; the appointment of a clinical psychologist to assist my Department in the process of identifying individual children with autism for whom a special response is required.
I am also establishing an interdepartmental team of high level officials involving my Department and the Department of Health and Children to co-ordinate our response to the needs of persons with autism. I am confident that this arrangement will further strengthen the close co-ordination which already exists between my Department and the Department of Health and Children and its agents in this area.
My Department is also in ongoing contact with the Department of Finance in relation to developments in the special needs area. Indeed, I wish to acknowledge the Department's positive response in this area as reflected in the very significant growth in the level of additional resources which have been devoted to the special education area in recent years.
