1096. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of children in Cork eligible for a special school place aged 12 years or over availing of the Home Tuition Programme in the 2025-2026 school year. [59610/26]

The Home Tuition Grant Schemes provide funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of specific reasons, are unable to attend school. By its nature, home tuition is intended to be a short-term intervention.

The purpose of the Home Tuition Grant Scheme (Special Education Component) is to provide funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for:

• Pre-school children with autism who meet the scheme's eligibility criteria;

• Children seeking a Special School or Special Class placement;

• Students, enrolled in schools, with a significant medical condition which has caused, and is likely to continue to cause, major disruption to their attendance at school; and

• Students, enrolled in schools, with school phobia and/or associated depression/anxiety which has caused, and is likely to continue to cause, major disruption to their attendance at school.

In the case of children who are seeking or transitioning to a Special School or Special Class placement, the aim of my Department is to meet the needs of families and to ensure that every child is allocated a suitable school placement. The preferred approach is that children are educated in school settings where they may have access to fully qualified teachers, individualised education programmes, special needs assistants, the school curriculum and, where possible and appropriate, full or partial integration and interaction with their peers.

Accordingly, home tuition is provided as an interim measure only for children for whom a placement in a recognised school is not currently available and should not be regarded as an optional alternative to a school placement.

It is important to note that the number of home tuition sanctions for children seeking or transitioning to a special school or special class place is not an indicator of the number of children who were without a school placement. Many children availing of this support are accessing educational provision through private group providers and others may subsequently receive a school placement during the school year.

In the 2025-2026 school year, 2 children in Cork who were aged 12 years or over, or who turned 12 years of age during the school year, and who were eligible for a special school place, availed of Home Tuition under the Home Tuition Grant Scheme.