The highest priority within the programme for Government is the whole area of special education, and the work that has been done to date by special needs assistants, special education teachers, the whole school community and indeed the parents and guardians supporting children throughout. It is fair to say that listening did need to improve and that is happening. It is of the utmost priority to find a way for SNA alternative circular to be integrated into the NCSE review of the role of the special needs assistant. The sanctioning today of additional budget for additional special education classes is most welcome as well. I wish to highlight the work of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. It is a number of weeks since we signed off on the report on inclusive education, which has been passed to the Departments of education and health and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. Within that, there are 33 very strong recommendations that encompass most of what has been discussed this evening. Pivotal to that is co-creation and the co-ordinated long-term needs-based planning for children with additional needs as well as the establishment of the unit for future planning and multi-annual funding. Some tangible examples can be implemented perhaps with a more prudent use of funding, even for school meals and mindfulness, sensory and nurture rooms within schools. That could even be done in collaboration with the HSE through the use of alternative respite funding for integrative therapies. These are things that some CHOs already do around the country, particularly in the Limerick area and in CDNTs 5 and 7. Where it is known that children are on waiting lists for assessment, they could be allowed to access such facilities. I did it as a councillor with the municipal district allocation, and provided small amounts of funding for equine therapy and art therapy.

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It can be done in the short term.

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