Vol. 562 No. 3
127 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason an application for resource hours for a person (details supplied) was refused by his Department on the recommendation of NEPS in view of the fact that the autism team in the Midland Health Board area recommended that this person needed 15 hours per week resource time. [5978/03]
My Department's circular letter 8/02 specifies the criteria for allocating resources and the appropriate level of resources in relation to a range of disabilities. In the case of autistic children, the circular specifies that five hours resource teaching per week may be allowed. This level of resource teaching has been sanctioned. The child mentioned also has the support of a special needs assistant for the remainder of the school week as well as a number of hours' home tuition.
A psychologist from the national educational psychological service has, within the past month, observed the child in class and has attended a case conference, involving all those involved in the child's welfare. The conclusion from this case conference is that it is not appropriate to allocate further educational resources to the child at this time.
