As the Deputy is aware and further to the encouragement of the Ombudsman for Children my Department advised during the course of last year that it was preparing to bring together all of the facets of the policy on the education of children with autism into one document to provide further clarity on the issue. However in the interim I requested the National Council Special Education (NCSE) to bring forward policy advice on the education of children with autism.
The NCSE have advised my Department that the Policy Advice will be delivered in the spring of 2015 and will draw upon findings gathered from an extensive consultation process which has already commenced. The advice will also draw upon the research commissioned by the NCSE as well as any other research which may be available and which the NCSE considers merits consideration.
It will be open to all interested parties to contribute to the consultation process and I expect that the NCSE final report will reflect the broadest possible range of views and provide recommendations which will assist the development of policy for future years. I see no merit in revising the existing format of the current policy in advance of the publication of the new policy advice.
