I propose to take Questions Nos. 338 and 339 together.
The home tuition scheme is primarily intended to provide compensatory instruction for pupils who have a medical ailment that is likely to cause major disruption of their attendance at school. In this context, my Department provides home tuition grants to pupils who cannot attend school at all, or are absent for a significant proportion of the school year. Furthermore, while children are awaiting a suitable educational placement, my Department sanctions home tuition as an interim measure, if appropriate. Home tuition is only intended as an interim measure and my Department considers that school-based education provision is the most appropriate intervention for pupils with special educational needs.
My Department has no record of any application for home tuition for the child referred to by the Deputy. Accordingly, I have asked my officials to issue the necessary form to the parents of the child in question. Any application will be examined on receipt of completed application form.
As the Deputy is aware, enrolment in individual schools is the responsibility of the managerial authority of those schools and my Department does not seek to intervene in decisions made by schools in such matters. My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking places. It is open to the parents of the child in question to make an application for enrolment to the Catherine McAuley School. The enrolment of children in the school is a matter for its board of management in accordance with its enrolment policy.