Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Deputy's discussion paper and the work he has done on the early years. I agree with him that this issue of special needs and access to preschool requires further study at national level. There is local variation. We have child care committees in every county and, for the first time, they are being organised at national level. That will make it conducive to finding out precisely what is happening in each of the counties. We will do precisely what Deputy Troy is suggesting, to have a national approach to the inclusion of children with special needs in preschool. There is a national approach in so far as we have the initiatives I outlined to Deputy Terence Flanagan, but there may be scope for further development of a national approach to dealing with the issues being presented at county level.

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