Special Educational Needs Service Provision

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 April 2013

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Questions (8)

Joe McHugh

Question:

8. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Education and Skills the level of funding that is being provided for support services for children with autism; the numbers of people who are employed in associated programmes; if he will provide information on support services that are provided at regional levels to parents of children with autism; if he will outline the relationship with the primary and secondary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17447/13]

Oral answers (9 contributions)

Deputy Sean Sherlock

The Department currently spends some €1.3 billion or 15% of its budget in support of children with special educational needs, including those with autism. Many children with autism are supported in mainstream schools where they are integrated with other children, including those with other special educational needs. These children have access to additional resource teaching hours and may have access to special needs assistants, SNAs, as required. Complete details on funding and staffing specifically to support children with autism is, therefore, not available. There are 540 classes specifically for children with autism. These classes are staffed with a ratio of one teacher and a minimum of two SNAs for every six children. Other supports include home tuition, special school transport arrangements, special equipment and training for teachers and parents. The National Council for Special Education is available to support parents who may be considering the most appropriate placement for their child or who are transitioning their child from primary to post-primary level.

Deputy Joe McHugh

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. He is correct in saying that autism-related services are a good-news story. In my own county at primary level, Scoil Íosagáin in Buncrana and Woodland national school in Letterkenny provide excellent autism-related services. Last September saw the opening of two more special classes with autism-related services in St. Patrick's national school in Lurgybrack and also an early intervention class in the Little Angels school in Letterkenny. If there is one wider point to be made it is that we should look at the provision of autism services as a model of best practice that could be applied to other areas of disability where there are service deficits. Autism service provision should be used as a bar to which we should aspire to raise other services for children with disabilities.

While there is a positivity around parental choice and whether parents want to opt for mainstream or special classes, there is a geographical consideration at play in this regard and I know Deputy McConalogue will be aware of this. In Inishowen many secondary school children with autism have to travel for over an hour to get to school and while the transport is provided by the Department, the distances involved are proving to be a difficulty for some pupils.

In Buncrana there is a drive, through the local council and the VEC, to develop a new secondary school campus located in Buncrana itself. I ask that the Department work closely with the VEC on this. Myself and my Oireachtas colleagues from the county will be meeting the VEC representatives on Monday next to get an update on that project. It is in band 1.2 and, as the Minister of State will be aware, that band refers to the provision of special accommodation for children with special needs such as autism, speech and language impairment, severe and profound intellectual impairment and so forth. The focus, from the Department's point of view, should be on how to facilitate secondary school children from Inishowen and whether it would be possible to provide services on this new campus, even though the Crana College itself is available for such children.

Perhaps in future there should be proper consultation with parents dealing with a wide range of disabilities and not just autism.

There is an ongoing conversation about Crana College so perhaps we should be consulting at a very early stage with parents who have children with mild or more severe disabilities at both primary and secondary level within Inishowen to see how we can build a service provision on the campus to cater for many children in that part of the world.

Deputy Sean Sherlock

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue, which is specific to his area. Department officials and I would be very interested to hear how the process with the VEC could take shape, with a view to engaging further in the process. If we are talking about a very specific geographical location, my own view - without being in full possession of the facts of the case made by the Deputy - is that the issue should be considered seriously. I hope that is an acceptable response, although it may not fully answer the question with figures. If there is a specific project in which the Deputy or other Members are involved, and where the Department should be more active, I am quite happy to engage further with the Deputy on the issue.

Deputy Joe McHugh

I do not wish to anticipate what will happen in the meeting, as Buncrana campus development will be on the agenda on Monday. Could a delegation from the VEC meet the Minister, Minister of State or officials in the Department?

Deputy Sean Sherlock

If the Deputy could make a request to the senior Minister, I will refer to the fact that the issue was raised in the House, along with the matter raised by Deputy Keating.

Deputy Mick Wallace

I realise it costs much money to run these programmes but I listen to people in Wexford, particularly from St. Senan's primary school in Enniscorthy and Scoil Mhuire in Wexford, who say they are hurting because of cuts. The applied behavioural analysis education system involves analysing a child's skill levels and applying intensive one-to-one teaching, breaking down a whole task into small and achievable steps. It applies particular methods to each child's needs and regardless of age of the learner with autism, the goal of the intervention is to enable him or her to function as independently and successfully as possible in a variety of environments.

These people have already experienced cuts and they are afraid that the reviews of the National Council for Special Education, which are due soon, will leave them seen as being overly supported already with numbers. The truth on the ground is very different and the kids are regressing because they do not have the same support they once had. The notion that there will be further cuts in the next review is frightening for these people. I know there is an end to the money but these people deserve the attention.

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien

The Minister of State mentioned the home tuition scheme run by the Department, offering 20 hours of one-on-one tuition. For the past five years with the grant allocated to parents, there was a certain discretion. For example, many parents would have used four or five hours in a group setting within preschools in particular. There seems to have been a change in the Department's policy as letters have been sent recently to people in receipt of the home tuition grant stating that using part of the grant for a group setting to develop social skills is not allowed. The Department has asked parents to refund any element not used for a one-to-one basis. I do not expect the Minister of State to answer the question today as I do not want to put him on the spot but he should revert to the officials and make inquiries about it. The discretion was always there and there was a benefit in using some of that grant for group settings rather than one-to-one sessions. It seems to be a recent change.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

I join Deputy McHugh in asking that the assessment be done on the demand for dedicated classes and supports within the Crana College development. It is a worthy proposal. There are many gaps in the autism related supports. In my own area of Inishowen there is good work carried out by the centre for autism related education, or iCare, which operates from funds raised and which has no support from the State. There are many gaps and we must consider how the State can support young people with autism related needs.

We should also consider how we apply resource and special needs hours in mainstream education. There has been an undoubted squeeze in the past couple of years and that will continue this September as the number of special needs assistants and resource teachers will not increase proportionate to the increase in the school-going population. I have asked the Government to consider this and the issue should be addressed.

Deputy Sean Sherlock

I acknowledge each of the contributions. It is important to state that there are 540 autism-specific classes approved throughout the country. There are specific pockets where there are shortages or where issues may need to be addressed. They can be raised through this forum and on the floor of the House but also by way of direct representations to the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, or parliamentary questions. With respect to Deputy Wallace, I would not be expected to be completely au fait with the school to which he refers. Perhaps he would table a parliamentary question to address the specific issue about the services rather than me giving a stock answer.

There are a maximum of six children in each special class with a teacher and at least two special needs assistants. Extra assistance is provided where the children require it, and sometimes on a one-to-one basis. Funding for home tuition is also available at ten hours per week for children with autism up to three years, increasing to 20 hours per week once the child is three years old if a placement is not available in an early intervention class. I do not know if that speaks directly to Deputy O'Brien's issue but we can engage further on it.