Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, Chairman. I welcome the delegation and, in particular, Mr. Stack. I compliment him on taking up this role in a voluntary capacity. As a good and faithful public servant, it is good to see him continue and it is clear that he is eminently well qualified for the role.

While he said very modestly that he had no specific background in special education, he was there from the beginning at the NCSE.

I wish to flag one or two concerns, which Ms Griffin and Mr. Mulkerrins and I may have discussed elsewhere. I would like to see other countries' models of special needs support for children considered. What models other than the SMA model are effective? I am thinking particularly of cost and the cap. We must ensure equality of provision for all children. I would appreciate Mr. Stack's comments. Adult education issues were also raised. What does Mr. Stack have in mind in that regard? Was he referring to parents of children with special education needs? I am further concerned about second level support for children with dyslexia and other special educational needs, in particular given peer issues and the stress they are under in the context of fitting in and withdrawal from classes, for example where they are exempted from Irish, to work on something else. It is a pointed matter.