Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 June 2024
146. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education if the case of an ASD unit closure can be examined (details supplied); if her Department will acknowledge the difficulties being experienced here; if her Department will assist and prevent the closure of this ASD unit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25977/24]
View answerI would like to clarify to the Deputy that this question refers to the Lighthouse Centre which is not a school, but a private company that provide home tuition in a group setting. The question relates to services provided under the Home Tuition Grant Scheme rather than an ASD Unit.
The Purpose of the Home Tuition Grant Scheme is to provide a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of reasons, are unable to attend school. The scheme also provides a compensatory educational service for children with special educational needs seeking an educational placement for whom such a placement is not available. Provision is also made for early educational intervention for children aged from 2.5 years to 3 years with autism.
Ensuring that every child with special educational needs gets a suitable education is a priority for the Department of Education.
Parents of children, who are eligible for Home Tuition and for whom home tuition has been approved, can source a tutor to provide home tuition on a one-to-one basis. Parents can also avail of alternative arrangements such as the provision of home tuition in a group setting. These arrangements enable parents to forego the home-based provision in favour of provision in a classroom setting which in itself is supported by a direct payment provision. The pre-school which the Deputy has referred to is one such private group provider.
Each group provider is selected by the parents. My Department has no contract with these providers. The contract is essentially between the parents and the relevant provider. My department also does not provide capital funding to private group providers. As part of the approval process, parents wishing to enter into such an arrangement must notify my Department in advance of the tuition commencing.
With regard to the pre-school concerned, I can confirm that my Department issued the 2023/2024 Home Tuition Circular in early June 2023. The early release of this circular and its application forms were to provide parents with sufficient time to engage with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) so that home tuition, if approved, could commence as early as possible in the new school year.
It is also a condition of the scheme that preschool classes cannot commence unless there is a minimum of 3 children. Again, in the case referred to, the Home Tuition application for the 3rd child was not received by my Department until November 2023. As soon as all the relevant information was received, approval was granted for the group to commence home tuition on the following Monday.
Regarding late payment, all payments were issued within the agreed time period with the exception of one. The delay in this payment was as a result of the pre-school provider failing to provide the Department with their correct bank details.
Funding is provided to these pre-school providers on the basis that they abide by the rules established by the Special Education Section of the Department of Education, as set out in Circular 0024/2023. This also includes incidences where there is a change in tutor.
